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ii.   LI  mill  ii., I    ,1  iiiiiii 


THE  ISLES  OF  SUMMER! 


OR 


Yassaii  and  the  Sahamas. 


'A  listless  climate  that,  where,  sooth  to  say, 
No  living  wight  could  work,   nor  cared  e'en  to  play." 

Thompson's  Castle  of  Indolence. 


KUwi^traifd    (gtUtixitt, 


A  MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW  HAVEN  BAR. 


New  _^aven,    Conn.: 

PUBLISHED      BY      THE      AUTHOR, 

1880. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  tlie  year  1880,      -n^ 

Bt  CUARLES  IVES,  ^ 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington.    7^ 


I 


Hoggson  8c  Robinson,  Printers. 


New  Haven. 


i 


E.  B.  Sheldon  &  Co.,  Electrotypers, 
New  Haven. 


TO   HIS  WIFE, 


m.  ®s 


THE   COMPANION   OF    HIS   TRAVELS, 

WHO  GBEATLY  INCBEASED  THE  PLEASUEBS  TO   WHICH 

NEW  SCENES  GAVE  BIRTH, 

ENOOUKAGED   AND   AIDED   HIM   IN  HIS   LITEEART  LABORS, 

AND   HELPED   TO   INSPIRE  HIS   BEST   THOUGHTS, 

THIS   BJOK    IS    AFFECTIONATELY   DEDICATED, 

BZ  ITS   AUTHOR. 


PREFACE. 


In  offering  this  book  to  the  reading  public  the  author  of  the  Isles  of  Summer 
is  not  unmindful  of  the  maxim  that  "silence  is  golden."  But  silence  is  often 
a  grave  mistake,  and  may  be  a  crime.  The  gift  of  speech  has  rendered  possi- 
ble the  intellectual  development  which  distinguishes  the  human  race.  The 
different  stages  in  the  progress  and  perfection  of  language  are  the  tide  marks 
of  civilization.  Take  from  man  the  power  to  express  his  thoughts,  and  you 
degrade  him  to  a  beast.  There  is  a  time  to  speak  and  a  time  to  abstain  from 
speaking.  More  than  golden  are  those  gems  of  thought  which  inspired  genius 
has  in  by-gone  times  wedded  to  imperishable  language  and  given  as  a  rich 
legacy  to  the  ages.  But  he  is  a  wise  man  who  knows  how  properly  and  when 
to  address  the  great  public  and  challenge  its  attention.  The  loud  din  of  a 
garrulity  stale  and  insipid,  is  ever  mingled  with  the  elevated  and  ennobling 
notes  of  inspired  voices.  Many  of  the  utterances  that  evidence  man's  divine 
origin,  to  which  the  Present  listens,  broke  the  stillness  of  dim  and  distant 
ages  in  the  morning  of  civilization,  while  the  genius  of  each  succeeding  age 
has  imparted  to  the  literary  air  vibrations  of  its  own,  that  mingle  with  those 
of  the  past,  and  a  great  tide  of  melody  that  never  ebbs,  rolls  grandly  down 
to  our  own  times. 

It  would  seem  to  be  sufficient  for  the  Present  to  sit  at  the  footstool  of  the  Past 
and  listen.  The  public  ear  is  not  only  filled  but  trained,  educated  and  critical, 
so  that  a  new  voice  has  no  more  chance  of  being  heard,  than  a  little  ripple  of 
attracting  attention  when  ocean's  great  lieart  throbs  with  the  quickening 
breath  of  a  hurricane.  A  new  book  by  a  new  author  is  like  a  new  leaf  amid 
the  evergreen  and  varied  foliage  of  a  tropical  forest.  When  one  unknown  to 
fame,  takes  his  first  born  literary  child  in  manuscript  sheets  to  any  of  the 
notable  publishers  in  either  of  our  great  cities,  the  cordiality  with  which  he  is 
received  is  like  that  with  which  a  tramp  is  welcomed  at  the  front  door  of  a 
palatial  dwelling.  The  chance  that  the  latter  is  an  angel  in  disguise,  is  con~ 
sidered -equal  to  the  probability  that  the  former  is  inspired.     In  many  cases, 


6  PHEFACE. 

probably  in  most,  the  publisher  is  too  busy  to  even  look  at  the  literary  bant- 
ling, although,  for  aught  he  knows,  it  is  a  little,  live,  genuine  literary  Moses, 
nestied  among  the  reeds  and  bulrushes  of  the  river  of  immortality. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  in  the  tirmament  of  letters,  brilliant  with  the  light 
of  stars  unfading  and  quenchless,  great  intellectual  luminaries  appear  unher- 
alded, 

"  Whose  sudden  visitations  daze  ttie  world, 
And  flash  like  lightning ;  while  they  leave  behind 
A  voice  thai  in  the  distance,  far  away, 
Wakens  the  slumbering  ages," 

and,  as  publisher's  are  not  infallible,  and  do  not  by  intuition  know  every 
thing,  it  has  occasionally  happened  that  they  have  found  out,  when  it  was  too 
late,  that  they  have  ignorantly  confounded  these  celestial  wanderers  with  the 
countless  fire-flies  that  rise  from  literary  meadows,  and  disappear  with  the 
warm  summer  night  that  gave  them  birth  and  made  their  short-lived  existence 
possible. 

Publishers  are  book-brokers,  or  middle  men,  who  bring  producers  and  con- 
sumers together.  They  are  the  merchants  of  literature,  and  merely  dispose 
of  the  brain  crop.  Generally  indemnified  against  loss,  theirs  is  the  lion's 
share  of  the  profits  when  profits  are  realized.  Authors,  even  the  most  suc- 
cessful, receive  but  a  very  small  percentage  of  the  profits  realized  from  the 
sale  of  their  works.  Great  publishing  houses  accumulate  great  fortunes ; 
while  great  authors  die  poor,  and  leave  to  their  families  only  a  brilliant  and 
enduring  name,  which  is  impotent  to  keep  the  wolf  of  hunger  from  their  doors. 
But  publishers  are  to  authors  a  convenience  if  not  a  necessity.  They  supply 
the  wings  which  are  required  to  enable  a  new  candidate  for  literary  honors  to 
ascend  sufficiently  high  in  the  world  of  letters  to  be  seen.  As  notable  pub- 
lishers have  at  times  fastened  to  dead  weights,  they  have  become  exceedingly 
incredulous  and  cautious,  and  look  with  great  suspicion  upon  all  who  have  not 
demonstrated  their  ability  to  float  and  fly  in  the  upper  air  of  popular  favor. 
As  doorkeepers  they  guard  the  entrance  of  that  great  stage  upon  which  the 
new  author  must  stand  in  order  to  be  widely  known,  but  they  are  so  chary  of 
their  favors  that  only  an  occasional  novice  is  allowed  to  tread  the  boards,  and 
take  his  chance  of  being  hissed  or  applauded  by  the  great  public  whose  atten- 
tion he  presumes  to  challenge. 

As  the  author  of  the  Isles  of  Summer  was  well  aware  of  these  facts,  and 
had  no  standing  place  in  the  great  world  of  letters,  why  did  he  not  continue 


PREFACE.  7 

to  devote  himself  exclusively  to  the  law  ?  Why  did  he  presume  to  write  a 
book,  and  having  written  it,  fossilize  it  with  type,  and  coffin  it  in  gilded 
covers  ? 

These  questions  are  legitimate,  and  they  shall  be  honestly  and  frankly  an- 
swered. 

While  treading  the  deck  of  a  New  York  and  Savannah  steamer,  after  hav- 
ing been  a  day  or  two  at  sea,  and  while  gazing  with  a  pleasing  awe  upon  an 
ocean  mysterious,  restless  and  sky-bound,  he  heard,  like  the  author  of  Revela- 
tion, a  voice  saying  unto  him  "PF/'rte/"  and  without  pausing  to  think  or 
inquire  whether  the  injunction  came  from  heaven  or  elsewhere,  he  obeyed 
with  alacrity.  It  did  not  appear  to  be  a  matter  of  choice,  but  of  uncontrolable 
necessity.  He  had  taken  with  him  neither  ink  nor  paper,  but  the  ship's 
purser  kindly  provided  him  with  botli  and  with  a  seat  at  his  table.  When 
the  author's  pen  was  fairly  started,  it  was  lilvC  the  artificial  leg  which  an  in- 
genious German  invented — it  could  not  be  stopped ;  so  he  continued  to  write 
as  he  traveled,  and  to  travel  as  he  wrote,  and  this  volume  is  the  result. 

Visiting  for  the  first  time  "  the  home  of  summer  and  the  sun,"  the  author 
was  constantly  surprised  and  charmed  with  new  phases  of  that  wondrous 
beauty  which  ever,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  tropics,  rests  lilve  an  atmosphere  upon 
sea  and  land.  His  nerves  were  sootlied  and  quieted  by  a  climate  whicli  the 
Gulf  Stream  and  trade-winds  delightfully  tempered  and  medicated.  Lulled, 
soothed,  and  pleased  by  such  novel  surroundings,  it  was  a  relief  to  tlie  mind 
to  give  expression  to  its  agreeable  sensations,  and  shed  some  of  its  thoughts. 
To  gratify  and  amuse  his  friends  at  home,  many  of  his  impressions  and  pen- 
pictures  were  forwarded  for  publication  in  the  New  Haven  Journal  and 
Courier.  They  met  with  unexpected  favor,  and  if  his  vanity  had  not,  as  he 
trusts,  departed  with  his  youth,  he  would  have  been  proud,  as  he  certainly 
was  gratified  at  the  warm,  hearty  and  general  commendation  Avith  which  his 
published  letters  were  received.  Much  enlarged,  and  to  some  extent  re- 
written, they  are  now  issued  in  book-form  at  the  request,  frequently  and  ur- 
gently expressed,  of  many  of  the  readers  of  his  newspaper  communications. 
The  author  has  the  more  readily  yielded  to  these  requests  because  he  believes 
his  book  will  meet  an  unsupplied  want,  there  being  no  work  in  the  market 
which  gives  the  information  it  contains.  A  literary  tent  has  only  at  long  in- 
tervals been  pitched  for  a  few  days  upon  the  Bahamas,  and  the  coral  isles 
have  yielded  to  letters  very  meagre  though  valuable  harvests.  Enjoying  to 
some  extent  the  fruits  of  the  labors  of  others,  the  author  has  also  cropped  new 
fields,  and  while  he  has  not  exhausted  or  very  much  impaired  the  fertility  of 


8  PREFACE. 

the  soil,  he  trusts  his  book  will  not  only  minister  to  the  pleasure  but  be  of 
some  practical  value  to  those  of  his  fellow  citizens  who,  for  any  reason,  desire 
to  avoid  the  severity  of  the  weather  at  the  north  during  the  winter  and  earl}'' 
spring  months.  It  is  but  a  chance  seedling,  but  valuable  fruit  is  sometimes 
found  upon  trees  by  the  wayside  and  in  hedge-rows  which  no  professional 
pomologist  has  planted.  If  in  the  fruit  gardens  of  literature  the  Isles  of 
Summer  shall  take  root  and  flourish  in  the  warm  sun  of  popular  favor,  its 
author  will  be  gratified ;  and  he  believes  he  will  not  be  greatly  troubled  should 
it  be  consigned  as  rubbish  to  the  brush-heap — 

Tor  he  wrote  not  for  money,  nor  for  praise, 
Nor  to  be  called  a  wit,  nor  to  wear  bays." 

He  seems  to  timself  not  so  much  an  actor  as  a  spectator  having  little  inter- 
est in  the  result.  The  freedom  of  his  will  has  in  this  matter,  to  a  large  de- 
gree, been  dominated  and  controlled  by  circumstances.  The  movements  of 
the  pen  which  recorded  his  thoughts  seem  like  yesterday's  heart-beats — they 
left  so  little  impression  upon  mind  and  memory. 

Seven  of  the  wood  cut  illustrations  in  this  book,  being  those  which  in  the 
table  of  illustrations  are  numbered  respectively  4,  5,  7,  10,  11,  13  and  14,  are 
by  permission  of  C.  H.  Mallory  and  Company  of  New  York,  the  proprietors 
of  the  steamship  line  now  running  between  New  York,  Nassau  and  Matanzas, 
copied  from  an  illustrated  pamphlet  which  they  have  printed  for  the  benefit 
of  the  patrons  of  their  Une.  The  other  wood  engravings  have  been  made  for 
this  work  and  are  with  two  exceptions  from  photographs  taken  in  Nassau  by 
Mr.  J.  F.  Coonlcy  of  New  York.  The  lithographic  plates  are  from  drawings 
made  l)y  Mr.  J.  H.  Emerton  of  New  Haven,  and  are  mostly  from  specimens 
which  the  author's  wife  collected  in  the  Bahamas.  The  author  takes  pleasure 
in  acknowledging  his  indebtedness  to  Prof.  A.  E.  Verrill,  of  the  Shefileld 
Scientific  School,  for  valuable  suggestions  and  for  the  scientific  names  of  the 
specimens  in  natural  history  pictured  upon  the  lithographic  plates 

IvESTON,  near  New  Haven,  Ct. 
JDecembet^  13,  A.  D.,  1880. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  I.— Man  and  the  Migratory  Birds.  An  Ocean  Voyage  in  Mid-Winter.  A  Wasted 
Snowstorm.  A  Model  Steamer.  Savannah.  The  Route  between  the  Sea-Islands  and 
the  Mainland.  The  Cumberland  Islands.  Ruins  of  Dunpienness.  St.  Mary's.  Fer- 
nandina.  Amelia  Beach.  Arrival  at  Jacksonville.  Crossing  the  Gulf  Stream.  Arrival 
at  Nassau p.  13 

Chap.  II.— .\  Break-water  of  Islands,  Rocks,  Reefs  and  Banks  over  2,000  miles  long.  The 
Bahama  Archipelago.  The  Gulfs,  Sounds  and  Ship  Channels  that  penetrate  and  sur- 
round the  group.  Hidden  Chapters  of  the  Earth's  Autobiography  Disrovered  hy  Mod- 
ern Scientists.  Monuments  of  Buried  Lands.  Ocean  Thoroughfares.  TheBermudas — 
their  Gradual  Subsidence p.  31 

Chap.  Ill  —New  Providence.  Killarney  and  Cunningham  Lakes.  Caves  and  Cave  Earth. 
The  Mermaid's  Pool.  Nassau— its  Streets.  Public  and  Private  Buildings,  and  Poi<ula- 
tion.  The  Poor  but  Happy  Necroes.  Fort  Fincasile;  its  Marine  Signals.  Grant's 
Town  and  other  Suburlian  Villngos.  Fort  Charlotte;  its  Subterranean  Hooms  and 
Charming  Outlook.  Lunching  at  the  Expense  of  the  British  Qneen  The  Removal  of 
the  Old  Barracks.  Foit  Montague.  A  Luxuriant  Growth  of  Titles.  The  Harbor  and 
Barof  Nassau.   The  Breakers.   Shells  and  Shell  work.   Nassau's  PublicLibrary.  p.  43 

Chap.  IV.— The  Royal  Victoria  Hotel.  Scenes  daily  witnessed  in  Its  Court.  Sacred 
Songs  of  the  Negroes p.  69 

Chap.  V.— Flora  of  the  Isles  of  Summer.  Fertilizing  Air.  Lar^e  Trees  on  the  top  of 
Stone  Walls  and  in  Limestone  QimiTies.  Trees  that  will  not  Die  and  cannot  be  killed. 
Trees  Wilhin  Trees.  The  Monkey  Tamarind,  the  Wild  Fig.  and  the  Ceil)a  or  Silk 
Cotton  Trees.  Thompson's  F'  lly.  Palm  Trees— the  Cocoanut,  the  African,  the  Cab- 
bage and  the  Palmetto.  The  India  Rubber  Tree.  The  Singing  Tree.  Tamarind 
Trees,  and  Trees  Valuable  for  Timber,  for  Dyes,  for  their  Spicy  Bark,  and  for  .Medic- 
inal Purposes.    The  Natural  more  'vVonderful  than  the  Superiiaiural.   .        .        p.  79 

Chap.  VI.— Fruits  and  Flowers  of  the  Bahamas.  Fruits  In  Bills  of  Fare.  The  Orange, 
the  Pine  Apple,  the  Sapodilla,  the  Cocoanut.  the  Hog  Plum,  ihi;  shuddock,  and  the 
Forbidden  Fruit.   Other  B.ihama  Fruits.   Flowering  Trees,  Shrubs  and  Vines,    p.  i)J 

Chap.  VII.— Soothing,  Languid  .-\ir;  its  Effects.  Ambition  Dies.  "Kk;  Baham;>8  not  in- 
cluded in  the  I'rimal  Curse.  The  Island  (if  Indolenci;.  Sootlnd  Sharks.  Lazy  air  and 
Lazy  blood  Putting  Insect  Plagues  to  Sleep.    Mice  and  Men  alike  Affected.    A  large 


10  CON"TEN"TS. 

Fisli  Story.  Sea  Turtles  Resigned  to  their  Fate.  Contented  and  Happy  Negroes. 
Good  Order  in  Nassau.  How  a  Millenium  can  be  Secured.  Agricultural  and  Manu- 
facturing Industry  not  Rooted  in  the  Rocks.  Sugar  making.  Small  Islands  unfavor- 
able to  Intellectual  Development p.  113 

Chap.  VIII.— Absence  of  Wild  Animals  upon  Coral  Islands.  Pleasures  of  the  Chase  Un- 
known. Diet  of  the  Aborigines.  How  Alligators  Taste.  The  Guanas  as  a  Table 
Luxury.  They  are  Intoxicated  with  Whistling  Music.  Vassar  Girls  Charming 
Turtles.  Mountain  Crabs.  The  Hermit  Crab  a  Freebooter.  The  Lizards  ;  Changing 
their  Color  and  Hunting  Game.  Animals  upon  the  West  India  Islands  when  Discov- 
ered. Snakes.  Sea  Turtles.  Turtle  Shells.  How  Sponges  Grow  and  form  Commu- 
nistic Communities.  The  Sponge  Fisheries.  Value  and  Quantity  of  Bahama  Sponges 
Exported p,  125 

Chap.  IX.— Amusements.  Small  and  Isolated  Communities  thrown  upon  their  Own  Re- 
sources. Visit  of  a  Circus  Company  to  Nassau.  Its  Effect  upon  the  Negroes.  Whist 
and  Boating  Clubs.  Base-ball  and  Polo.  Military  and  Marbles.  Religion  Utilizing 
the  Idle  Hours.  Streets  Placarded  with  Notices  of  Solemn  Fasts.  Absence  of  a  Color 
Line  in  Churches.  Amateur  Pishing.  The  Boatmen  Canvassing  for  Customers.  Capt. 
Sampson  a  Fisher  of  Men.    He  Describes  and  Discusses  the  Sharks.  .       .       p.  143 

Chap.  X.— Yachting  in  Bahama  Waters.  Sampson  and  his  Triton.  Testing  a  Sail-boat. 
Searching  Outside  in  a  Good  Wind  for  the  Line  Storm.  Sampson's  Visit  to  New  York. 
His  Experiences  and  Impressions.  Reliable  Wind— Delightful  Views— Congenial 
Friends,  The  Log  of  the  Pleasure  Seekers.  Newly  Discovered  Poets.  The  Gulf 
Weed p.  155 

Chap.  XI.— Nassau  as  a  Sanitarium.  Its  Mild  and  Generally  Salubrious  Climate.  Its 
Freedom  from  Cold  Waves  of  Air  and  Cold  Currents  of  Water.  Its  Vulnerable  Points. 
No  Absorbing  and  Filtering  Sands.  Impurities  Endangering  its  Water  Supply  and 
Poisoning  the  Air.  A  High  Degree  of  Heat  in  the  Sun.  Diseases  upon  the  Islands. 
Small  but  Crowded  Human  Ant  Hills.  The  Yellow  Fever  in  Nassau  in  1880.  The 
Pestilence  in  other  Neighboring  Cities  at  Other  Times.  The  Angel  of  Health  Rides 
Upon  Hurricanes.  Cleansing  the  City.  Constant  Vigilance  and  Activity  of  Nassau's 
Board  of  Health  Essential  to  its  Safety.  Who  may  Hope  for  Relief  and  Cure  in  Nassau. 
Not  the  Best  Place  in  which  cither  to  be  very  Sick  or  to  Die.  Frost  a  Factor  in  tho 
Problem  of  Civilization.  Human  Development  and  Progress  Dependent  upon  Ice. 
Sea  Bathing  all  Winter p.  171 

Chap.  XII.— Corals  and  Coral  Reefs.  The  Marvelous  Beauty  of  the  "  Marine  Garden." 
Its  Corals,  Coralines,  Gorgonias,  Algae,  Sponges  and  Wonderfully  Colored  Fishes. 
Water  Glasses.  Natural  Aquariums.  Coral  Bowers  and  Grottoes.  Sea  Urchins. 
The  Colored  Divers.    Life  in  the  Rock p.  209 

Chap.  XIII.— The  Extent  of  the  World  of  Waters  and  its  Wonderful  Fauna.  Bahama 
Fishes.  Some  Eminently  Distinguished  for  their  Brilliant  Colors,  and  Others  for 
their  Singularity,  described.  Fish  that  are  Poisonous.  Table  Fish.  The  Bahamas 
Rich  in  Beautiful  Mollusks.    They  Harmonize  with  the  other  Exqusite  Forms  of  Life 


CJONTEKTS.  11 

and  with  the  Brilliant  Waters.    The  Shores  Paved  with  Shells  Wonderful  In  Form 
and  Color.    The  Conch p.  225 

Chap.  XIV.— Moonlight  and  Starlight  in  the  Bahamas.  New  Heavens.  The  Crescent 
and  the  Cross.  The  Starry  Cross  of  Southern  Skies.  Midnight  Watchings,  with  their 
Results p.  241 

Chap.  XV.— The  Coral  Isles  the-  Home  of  Beautiful  Birds.  Their  Scarcity  io  Nassau  and 
its  Causes.  The  Necessity  of  Legal  Enactments  to  Protect  the  Birds.  The  Flamingo. 
The  Bahama  Mocking  Bird.  A  Brief  Account  of  the  Visitant  and  Resident  Birds  of 
the  Bahamas, p.  247 

Chap.  XVI.— The  Influence  of  the  British  Court  and  Aristrocracy  upon  the  People  of 
Nassau.  The  Landing  of  Prince  Alfred  upon  the  Island  of  New  Providence.  Nassau 
and  the  British  Government  During  the  Late  War  of  the  Rebellion.  Blockade  Run- 
ning. Nassau  Practically  a  Confederate  Port.  International  Laws  Construed  and 
Enforced  so  as  to  Greatly  Damage  the  United  States.  Fortunes  Rapidly  Made,  Squan- 
dered and  Lost.  Wild  Excitement  and  Great  Dissipation.  Great  Increase  of  Disease 
and  Crime  in  Nassau .       p.  265 

Chap.  XVII.— The  Bahama  Constitution.  Opening  of  the  Colonial  Legislature.  Imposing 
Ceremonies.  The  Negroes  Made  Happy.  The  Governor  and  his  Military  Guard  of 
Honor.  "Parliament  "  Prorogued.  Martial  Music  and  Booming  Cannon.  Engrossed 
Bills  Approved  and  Signed.  Small  Annual  Crops  of  New  Laws.  No  Color  Line  in  the 
House  of  Assembly.  Wrecks  and  Wrecking  in  the  Bahamas.  Salvors  and  Salvage. 
Bahama  Hurricanes p.  275 

Chap.  XVTII.— The  Social  Life  of  Nassau.  Society  Pervaded  by  Natural  Chrystalizing 
Laws.  English  Forms  and  Titles  well  Rooted.  Citizens  of  the  Great  Republic  Am- 
bitious to  Mix  and  Mingle  in  High-toned  Society.  Social  Gayeties— Picnics  and  Balls, 
Wine  and  Waltzing,  the  "Sound  of  Revelry  at  Night."  Highways  Made  and  Repaired 
to  Accomodate  the  Victims  of  a  too  Generous  Hospitality.  A  Governor  who  Appre- 
ciates the  Dance,  and  does  not  Underestimate  the  Value  of  His  Titles.  A  Doctor  of 
Divinity  Made  Happy.    In  What  Places  Hospitality  is  Indigenous.      .        .        p.  28V 

Chap,  XIX.— The  First  Great  Voyage  of  Columbus.  He  Solves  the  Dark  Problem  of  the 
Ages.  His  Landfall.  The  Whole  Group  Made  Forever  Memorable.  The  Spirits  of 
Columbus  and  Black  Deard  Tudelibly  Impressed  Upon  the  Islands.  Eminently  Good 
and  Bad  Men  Not  Dead  When  They  Die.  The  Natives  As  Columbus  Found  and  De- 
scribed Them.  The  West  India  Islands  Occupied  by  Substantially  One  People.  The 
Caribs.    The  Search  Among  the  Bahamas  for  the  Fountain  of  Youth.         .        p.  299 

Chap.  XX.— Spanish  Perfidy  and  Cruelty.  The  Natives  by  Force  and  Fraud  are  Cairied 
to  Hispaniola  and  Perish  in  its  Mines.  The  Islands  without  Inhabitants.  An  English 
Captain  Discovers  New  Providence.  George  III  of  England  makes  a  Royal  Grant  of 
the  Bahamas  to  Sis  Proprietors.  Pirates  Infest  the  Islands.  Black  Beard.  He  Es- 
tablishes Himself  Upon  New  Providence.  The  Early  Governors.  Summary  Punish- 
ment Inflicted  by  the  Spaniards,  and  by  the  French  and  Spaniards.    Nassau  Built  and 


I'S*  COKTEXTS. 


Named  in  1694.  'The  British  Government  Parchase  tlie  Proprietary  Title  to  the  Isiantts. 
Nasgan  is  Captured  and  Abandoned  by  tlio  Americans  Under  Commodore  Hoplilna. 
In  1781  it  is  Captured  and  Garrisoned  by  tlie  Spaniards.  It  is  Re-talven  by  Amcricaa 
Loyalists.    Tiie  Abolition  of  Slavery p.  313 

Chap.  XXI.— Nassau  Revisited.  Lacli  of  Conffdence  in  ihe  Northern  March.  Missing 
Trunks;  Man  and  Ilis  Clothes.  The  New  York  and  Nassau  Steamboat  Line.  The 
Western  Texas.  Notable  Passengers.  The  Fountain  of  Youth  on  Litchfield  Hill. 
Femandina.  Picturesque  Shores.  Sea-birds.  The  Mouth  of  the  St.  John's.  The  Bar 
and  Breakers.  A  Visit  to  St.  Nicholas.  Incidents  and  Scenes  in  the  Gulf  of  Florida. 
"Bank  Sharks,"  Porpoises.  Crossing  the  Gnlf  Stream.  Dolphins.  Sun-set  Views. 
Arrival  at  Nassau. , p.  327 

Cbap.  XXII — Pleasant  Return  Voyages.  Waiting  in  Florida  the  Arrival  of  Summer  at 
the  North.  Making  Apologies  to  a  Tropical  Sun.  The  Steamer  City  of  Austin— Capt. 
Stevens.  A  Leaf  from  the  Chapter  of  the  Captain's  Nautical  Experiences.  Little 
Sankey  Transported  and  Transplanted.    Reciprocal  Welcomes.    ...       p.  349 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

WOOD   ENGRAVINGS. 

1.  Frontispiece— View  from  high  ground  back  of  Nassau. 

2.  Map.    pp.  12-13. 

3.  Screw  Steamer  City  of  Savannah,  pp.  10-17. 
~4.  Glass  Window  at  Harbour  Island,  pp.  22-33. 
"  5.  Fort  Fincastle.    pp.  50-51. 

6.  View  in  Grant's  Town.    pp.  56-57. 

~~  7.  View  from  Fort  Fincastle.    pp.  64-65. 

8.  The  Royal  Victoria  Hotel,    pp.  72-73. 

9.  The  Cciba  or  Silk  Cotton  Tree.    pp.  90-91. 

—  10.    Shore  View  west  of  Nassau,    pp.  112-113. 

—  11.    Nassau  from  Ilog  Island,    pp.  160-161. 

12.    George  Street  and  the  Government  House,    pp.  288-289. 
'"  13.    A  Private  Residence  in  Nassau,    pp.  296-297. 
14.    Bay  Street,  west  end  of  Nassau,    pp.  312-313. 

LITIlOGRAPnS. 


15.  Bahama  Reptiles,    pp.  130-131. 

16.  "        Sponges,    pp.  140-141. 

^'-  "        ^^o"""'*-  hip.  216-217 

18.  "       Flexible  Corals.  1 

19.  "        Echinodcnns.     pp.  224-225. 

20.  "       Fishes,    pp.  232-233. 


21.  Bahama  Pishes,    pp.  2,39-2;i3. 

22.  Squid.    Octopus,    pp.  234-235. 
2:5.  Bahama  Shells. 

24.  " 

25.  Flamingo,    pp.  248-249. 
20.  Dolphins,    pp.  344-345, 


■  pp.  237-238. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Man  and  the  Migratory  Birds.  An  Ocean  Voyage  in  3Iid-winter.  A 
Wasted  Snow  Storm.  A  Model  Steamer.  Savannah.  A  Pleasant  run  be- 
ticeen  the  Sea-Islands  and  the  Mainland.  The  Cumberland  Islands.  Dun- 
genness.  St.  Mary.  Fernandina  and  its  Amelia  Beach.  Arrival  at  Jack- 
sonville.    Crossing  the  Gulf  Stream.     Landing  at  Nassau. 

"The  sails  were  filled,  and  fair  the  light  winds  blew, 
As  pleased  to  waft  him  from  liis  native  land." — Byron. 

Nature's  special  favorites  are  the  birds.  With  the  sjDced  of 
the  wind,  and  a  flight  almost  as  noiseless,  they  ever  follow  Sum- 
mer wliere  she  leads,  bask  in  her  sunlight,  and  repose  in  her 
grateful  shadows.  As  Winter,  snow-clad  and  frozen,  advances 
or  retreats,  they  folloAV  in  his  footsteps,  and  sport  in  the  forests  of 
verdure,  and  in  the  fields  and  bowers  of  bloom,  that  soon  clothe 
his  track  of  desolation  with  wondrous  beauty. 

What  nature  denied,  man  has  acquired  for  himself — a  speed 
.■-'upcrior  to  thai;  of  the  birds  and  outstripping  the  wind.  His 
thoughts  travel  witli  the  lightning,  and,  practically,  space  is 
almost  anniliilated  by  his  steam  chariots  upon  iron  roads. 

Science,  meanwhile,  1ms  explored  and  mapped  the  great  ocean 
Avorld,  sounded  its  profoundest  depths,  discovered  and  described 
its  slioals  and  rocks  and  winding  shores,  and,  wedded  to  mechan- 
ical ingenuity,  has  enabled  man,  in  the  glowing  language  of  the 
east,  to  '*  take  the  wings  of  the  morning  and  fly  to  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth. " 

13  ^ 


14  iSLES  OF  SUMMER. 

Hence,  after  the  dwellers  in  tlie  north  have  each  in  his  genera- 
tion for  untold  thousands  of  years  been  snow-bound  and  ice- 
anchored,  their  descendants  in  our  day  arc  able  at  winter's 
approach,  to  migrate  with  the  birds,  and  thus  secure  perfect 
exemption  from  its  discomforts.  To  many,  suffering  from  dis- 
ease, or  with  blood  whieli  age  has  made  sluggish,  tliis  is  a  great 
boon. 

In  the  winter  of  18T9,  and  again  in  1880,  the  author  influenced 
mainly  by  sanitary  considerations,  fled  from  frost  to  the  islands 
of  unending  summer,  spending  sometime  in  Florida  when  going 
and  returning  in  1879,  and  again  on  his  way  home  in  1880.  The 
knoAvledge  he  was  thus  enabled  to  acquire,  is  in  part  contained 
in  these  pages.  Most  of  his  notes  upon  Florida  may  perhaps 
form  the  ground  work  of  a  future  volume. 

On  a  clear  morning  in  January,  A.  D,  1879,  the  author  looked 
out  of  his  office  window  upon  New  Haven's  beautiful  "Green," 
and  saw  its  noble  elms  in  tlicir  maturity,  lifting  tlieir  long  bare 
brown  arms  towards  heaven  as  if  in  supplication,  while  a  white 
and  beautiful  carpet  of  snow  revealed  the  shadows  and  reflected 
the  sunlight.  Three  days  afterwards,  he  sat  upon  tlie  deck  of 
an  ocean  steamer,  in  a  pleasant  summer  atmosphere,  within  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  the  city  of  Savannah,  witli  notliing 
in  view  but  the  blue  dome  of  the  sky,  the  restless  ocean  waves, 
and  some  daring  sea  birds  which  hovered  high  in  air  above  the 
steamer's  foaming  track,  and  watched  witli  tlieir  telescopic  eyes, 
and  waited  for  tlieir  share  of  the  noon-day  meal.  The  contrast 
was  most  striking;  the  change  from  a  life  of  care  and  of  continu- 
ed moil  and  toil,  to  a  state  of  calm  and  peaceful  rest,  was  as 
agreeable  as  it  was  marked  and  sudden.  But  life  is  full  of  start- 
ling and  unexpected  contrasts.  There  is  seemingly  no  stability 
but  instability,  nothing  constant  but  unrest.  Change  itself  be- 
comes changeless  in  its  unvarying  mutability. 


A  MID-WINTER  OCEAN"  VOYAGE.  15 

Friday  has  acquired  a  bad  name,  especially  among  those  who 
have  their  ''home  upon  the  rolling  deep."  But  for  the  author, 
it  had  no  terrors — particularly  as  he  never  made  it  a  matter  of 
conscience  to  keep  its  fasts  or  to  diet  exclusively  upon  its  fish. 
He  did  not  therefore  hesitate  to  take  passage  on  board  the  steamer 
Elm  City  for  New  York,  on  Friday  evening,  the  17th  of  January, 
A.  D.  1879.  Never  in  summer  did  he  more  comfortably  pass 
over  Long  Island  Sound,  or  awaken  after  it  feeling  more  invigor- 
ated and  refreshed.  A  short  while  previous  the  little  light  snow- 
flakes  had  noiselessly  fallen  upon  the  great  city  of  New  York, 
effectually  barricaded  its  immense  net  work  of  streets  and  ave- 
nues, and  more  effectually  held  it  in  subjection  than  could  a 
great  and  powerful  army  with  banners.  With  a  feeling  of  great 
relief  we  soon  exchanged  its  dirty  and  slippery  sidewalks  for 
the  busy  deck  and  luxurious  saloons  of  the  screw  steamer  City 
of  Savannah,  a  floating  palace  of  the  sea. 

At  about  half-past  three  o'clock,  p.  m.,  on  Saturday,  the  18th 
of  January,  we  left  pier  No.  43,  North  River,  steamed  down 
the  harbor  of  New  York,  between  the  pleasant  but  then  cold 
shores  of  Long  Island  and  New  Jersey,  into  the  broad  Atlantic, 
and  fancied  its  gentle,  murmuring,  dancing  and  slightly  foam- 
crested  waves  gave  us  a  friendly  greeting,  and  as  warm  a  welcome 
as  was  possible  at  that  frigid  season  of  the  year. 

At  the  mention  of  a  Avinter's  voyage,  before  a  blazing  fire  or 
near  a  comfortable  steam  radiator,  one  involuntarily  shudders, 
shivers  and  recoils.  But  had  we  not  just  got  to  the  end  of  a 
long  series  of  storms,  and  fierce,  cold  winds  ?  Had  not  the  wind 
god  of  winter  exhausted  himself,  and  would  he  not  now  stop  to 
take  breath?  We  thought  so,  and  soon  found  that  we  were  right. 
Saturday  afternoon  and  night  the  Atlantic  was  in  one  of  its  mild- 
est moods.  Sunday  the  wind  took  us  directly  aft,  rounded  out 
our  foresail,  foretopsail  and  forogallant  sail,  billowed  the  water's 


16  ISLES  OF  SUMMEE. 

surface  just  enough  with  snow-Avliite  crests  to  please  the  eye,  hut 
not  enough  to  awaken  feehngs  of  danger  even  m  timid  minds. 
The  clouds  gradually  thickened  overhead,  a  few  snowflakes  with 
seeming  reluctance  noiselessly  descended,  and  Avere  instantly  lost 
in  the  mysterious  dcptlis  of  the  ocean — for  a  snowflake  and  ^ 
steamship  are  alike  insignificant  so  far  as  old  ocean  is  concerned. 
Soon  we  exjoerienced  the  pleasure  of  seeing,  what  is  not  very  often 
witnessed,  a  heavy  snow  storm  off  the  capes  of  Virginia,  and  it 
seemed  so  queer  to  see  the  snow  fall  hour  after  hour  and  leave 
not  a  trace  behind.  No  rocks,  no  shrubs,  no  evergreen  trees 
were  glorified  by  it,  but  ocean,  with  cold  indifference,  received 
this  gift  from  heaven  unmoved  and  unaffected.  Earth  may  well 
welcome  the  snow  storm  which  protects  and  saves  its  priceless 
floral  treasures,  but  what  is  the  use  of  wasting  snow  storms  upon 
the  ocean? 

At  half-past  six  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  January  iOth,  the 
snow  storm  being  over,  we  saw  at  a  distance  of  some  fifteen  miles, 
the  revolving  light  of  Hatteras.  Can  it  be,  we  inwardly  ex- 
claimed, that  this  is  the  place  that  navigators  of  the  sea  would 
be  so  glad  to  avoid  ;  the  home  of  the  strongest  and  most  fitful 
winds,  and  of  wildest  storms;  a  place  loved  only  by  wreckers? 
Our  steamship  still  spread  her  sails  to  the  Avind,  and  her  rocking 
was  so  gentle  that  not  a  passenger's  seat  Avas  empty  at  the  supj^er 
table.  It  Avas  not  long  before  spittoons  commenced  a  game  of 
ten-pins  upon  the  floor  of  the  main  saloon,  the  Avind  howled  and 
hissed  at  us  as  it  passed;  the  propeller  uttered  its  cry  of  alarm, 
as,  in  the  rolling  and  pitching  of  the  vessel,  it  protruded  out  of 
the  Avater;  strong  men  staggered  and  reeled,  Avhile  during  the 
short  momentary  intervals  of  comparative  repose,  they  moved 
from  one  holding-on  place  to  another;  the  ladies  sought  refuge  in 
their  state-rooms,  and,  dcA'outly  thankful  that  he  had  not  broken 
any  of  his  or  his  felloAV-passengcrs'  bones,  the  author  soon  fol- 


A  MID- WINTER  OCEAN   VOYAGE.  17 

lowed  their  good  example.  We  were  steaming  away  from  Hat- 
teras,  when  the  demon  of  the  stormy  cape  sent  some  of  his 
specimen  blasts  after  us.  Our  cai:)tain  deemed  it  best  to  "  lie 
to''  awhile  until  that  "little  spell  of  weather"  was  over. 

During  the  night  nearly  all  the  passengers  were  more  or  less 
sick,  and  the  cold  was  sufficient  to  freeze  water  on  the  deck  of  the 
steamer  from  stem  to  stern.  The  next  day  the  weather  was  all 
that  could  be  desired ;  the  atmosphere  calm,  agi'eeably  cool  and 
bracing,  while  the  sea  was  as  smooth,  quiet  and  peaceful,  as  if  it 
had  not  yet  been  awakened  from  a  night  of  profound  repose  and 
quiet  sleep. 

The  "  City  of  Savannah  "  is  one  of  a  line  of  steamers  built  and 
owned  by  the  Georgia  Central  Railroad  Company,  for  the  trans- 
portation of  passengers  and  freight  between  Savannah  and  New 
York.  At  an  expense  of  one  million  of  dollars — being  one-fifth 
of  its  capital — it  secured  the  building  at  Chester,  Penn.,  of  four 
steamers,  named  respectively,  the  "'City  of  Macon,"  the  "  City 
of  Columbus,"  the  *'  Gate  City,"  and  the  "  City  of  Savannah." 
They  are  all  substantially  alike,  and  the  last  was  placed  upon  the 
line  in  the  summer  or  fall  of  1878,  and  the  first  about  a  year 
previous. 

Our  steamer  was  almost  a  novice  upon  the  ocean.  A  few  months 
before  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  from  the  Avest  bank  of 
the  river  Delaware,  it  first  took  to  the  water.  Yet  how  grandly, 
with  an  air  of  conscious  power,  it  made  its  way  over  tlie  path- 
less, fathomless  and  boundless  sea !  When  no  land-marks  are 
seen  upon  the  horizon's  verge,  and  no  guiding  stars  in  the  sky, 
it  still  speeds  confidently  and  unerringly  on  its  Avay  over  the 
trackless  wilderness  of  water. 

Born  to  an  inheritance  of  labor,  the  aiithor  experienced  a  new 
sensation — he  had  nothing  to  do.  He  drionninod  fJici'cfore  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  tlie  sliip,  uud  tlni.'^  ulilizc  some  of  his 


Id  Isles  of  susniEii. 

leisure  hours.  "No  expense  was  apparently  spared  to  make  it  in 
all  respects  first-class,  and  in  it  are  embodied  the  latest  and  best 
Improvements  and  appliances  of  marine  architecture. 

The  length  of  the  Savannah,  measuring  fifteen  feet  from  the 
water  line,  is  260  feet ;  its  length  over  all  is  275  feet.  It  is  38 
feet  6  inches  beam  molded.  Ilcr  depth  from  base  line  to  tip  of 
$par  deck  is  26  feet  10  inches  ;  depth  of  hold  24  feet ;  total  depth 
below  spar  deck  75  feet.  Her  registered  tonnage  is  2,092  iVir 
tons.  She  can  carry  at  one  time  4,000  bales  of  cotton.  She  has 
three  decks  besides  the  hurricane  deck.  The  spar  deck  is  entirely 
of  iron ;  the  main  deck  is  partly  of  iron,  and  the  deck  frames 
are  all  of  iron.  She  Avas  at  first  brig-rigged,  and  could  sjoread 
5,000  yards  of  canvass ;  but  the  spars  on  the  mainmast  have 
been  taken  down,  as  it  was  found  that  they  were  not  needed,  so 
that  now  her  rigging  is  that  of  a  hermaphrodite  brig. 

The  dining  saloon  is  located  aft  the  main  hatch  on  the  main 
deck,  and  is  50  feet  by  29  feet  at  a  distance  of  30  feet  from  the 
main  stairway.  Aft  of  and  near  the  dining  saloon,  is  the 
main  saloon  with  rows  of  state-rooms ;  each  state-room  is  ele- 
gantly and  conveniently  fitted  up,  and  has  a  window  looking 
out  upon  the  ocean.  A  small  saloon  over  the  dining  saloon  is 
called  "social  hall,"  and  being  so  fortunate  as  to  have  a  room 
which  opened  into  this  "  hall,"'  the  author  is  able  to  testify  that 
"  social  hall "  is  decidedly  the  best  part  of  the  ship.  There  is 
another  saloon  with  state-rooms  aft  the  main  hatch,  but  it  is 
much  less  desirable  than  the  other  two. 

The  saloons  arc  elaborately  and  most  beautifully  finished 
Avith  the  choicest  woods  that  money  could  secure.  The  natural 
grain  has  been  preserved  and  the  polished  surfaces  are  as  hard 
and  smooth  as  glass.  Cherry,  mahogany,  black  walnut,  bird's 
eye  maple,  tulip  wood  and  amaranth  are  so  combined  as  to  pro- 
duce the  best  esthetic  effect,  and  one  never  tires  looking  at  an(i 
studying  them,  , 


DESCRIPTION"  OP   STEAMJlil.  19 

Eacli  state-room  is  provided  with  roomy  berths,  first-class 
spring  matrasses,  and  patent  wash  shabs  and  bowls,  with  conve- 
nient fixtures, — the  latter  superior  to  any  we  had  ever  seen. 
Stationary  chairs,  with  revolving  backs,  along  the  dining  tables 
are  a  very  desirable  improvement. 

The  engines  of  this  great  steamship  are  a  credit  to  the  age  in 
which  we  live.  As  tide-marks  of  intellectual  development  and 
monuments  of  man's  dominion  over  matter  and  over  the  hidden 
and  latent  forces  of  nature,  they  far  transcend  the  pyramids  that 
have  excited  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the  world  for  thous- 
ands of  years.  While  propelling  us  through  the  ocean  at  the  rate 
of  thirteen  miles  an  hour  with  a  1,650  horse  power,  there  was 
almost  no  noise,  and  every  part  is  so  j)erfectly  adjusted  that  the 
motion  of  the  vessel  was  as  gentle  as  the  rocking  of  a  cradle — 
indeed,  more  so,  for  the  author  found  no  more  difficulty  in  writing 
at  a  table  in  the  purser's  room,  within  six  feet  of  the  engines, 
than  he  would  at  a  table  in  any  private  house. 

Her  boilers,  tubular  cylindrical,  are  four  in  number,  each  12 
feet  8  inches  in  diameter,  and  10  feet  6  inches  in  length.  The 
working  pressure  is  80  pounds  to  the  square  inch.  The  stroke 
of  the  pistons  is  54  inches. 

The  ship  has  a  patent  condenser  of  3,000  feet  condensing 
surface,  by  means  of  which  her  supply  of  Croton  water  taken 
in  at  Xew  York  is  vaporized  and  condensed  constantly  during 
the  voyage,  thus  avoiding  the  necessity  to  a  great  extent  of  using 
sea  water,  and  making  a  very  great  saving  of  the  boilers,  fuel, 
and  labor. 

The  propeller  has  a  diameter  of  14  feet  3  inches,  and  it  makes 
70  revolutions  per  minute.  It  is  of  the  Hirsch  patent,  and  has 
four  blades,  which  are  so  fastened  that  they  can  be  removed 
when  necessary. 

It  is  interesting  to  see  in  how  many  ways  steam  power  is 
brought  into  requisition  to  save  hibor  on  this  ship.     Two  donkey 


^0  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

engines  are  lisecl  for  clearing  the  bilge  and  for  some  otlier  pur- 
poses ;  three  or  four  for  loading  and  unloading  cargoes ;  one 
for  the  anchor  and  the  sails ;  one  in  part  for  supplying  water 
closets  with  water;  one  for  operating  a  steam  steering  apparatus; 
one  for  operating  a  newly  devised  governor,  which  so  controls 
and  governs  the  propeller  that  it  cannot  make  more  than  a  cer- 
tain number  of  revolutions  per  minute.  This  last  takes  the  place 
of  a  man  who  had  formerly  to  devote  all  his  time  to  this  work. 

These  engines  are  in  addition  to  the  main  engine  for  ^jumping 
out  the  ship.  There  are  six  water  tight  iron  compartments  in 
the  ship,  and  if  one  should  be  stove  in  or  should  spring  a  leak 
from  any  cause,  the  otjiers  would  float  her  while  the  great  cir- 
culating pump  of  the  condenser  would  be  brought  into  requisi- 
tion, whose  jDower  to  discharge  water  is  very  great. 

The  crew  number  forty-seven,  and  the  monthly  pay-roll  is 
about  $2,000.  The  powerful  and  complicated  machine  requires 
constant  watchfulness  and  the  greatest  care.  To  lubricate  it 
one  and  one-half  barrels  of  oil  are  used  every  trip.  The  aver- 
age consumption  of  coal  is  130  tons  for  a  round  trip.  The  aver- 
age length  of  the  voyage  is  from  fifty-five  to  sixty  hours.  The 
Savannah  has  once  gone  from  dock  to  dock  in  fifty-two  hours 
and  thirty  minutes. 

The  regular  sea  route  from  New  York  to  Savannah  is  not 
through  any  part  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  that  immense  river  of 
warm  water,  a  thousand  times  larger  than  the  Mississippi,  which 
flows  in  a  cold  water  bed,  and  helps  to  temper  the  severity  of 
the  frigid  and  frozen  North  ;  but  between  that  great  and,  as  yet, 
inexplicable  phenomenon  of  the  ocean,  and  its  beautifully  wind- 
ing western  shore,  our  steamer  grandly  plowed  its  way.  Like 
the  ''shining  shore"  of  the  "better  land,''  we  well  knew,  that 
although  invisible  to  our  material  eyes,  it  was  near  at  hand. 
This  passing  in  a  few  hours  from  ice-bridged  rivers  with  snow- 


SAVANNAH   RIVER.  21 

enshrouded  banks  to  fields  of  perennial  green,  so  forcibly  sym- 
bolizes man's  passage  over  the  river  of  death,  that  the  author 
sometimes  more  than  half  believed  that  he  had  indeed  made  the 
journey  to  that  mystic  realm  between  which  and  earth  the  travel 
is  all  one  way. 

We  approached  the  bar  off  the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  river 
in  the  morning  twilight  of  January  21st,  passing  quite  a  number 
of  ships  at  anchor  in  the  offing.  From  prudential  reasons  our 
captain  so  timed  the  steamship's  progress  that  we  crossed  the 
bar  at  high  tide.  As  Ave  entered  the  river,  we  turned  to  waft 
upon  the  mild  and  gentle  air  a  silent  but  heartfelt  blessing  to 
old  ocean  for  having  treated  us  so  well  during  our  voyage,  and 
we  inwardly  hoped  tliat  notliing  in  the  future  would  occur  to 
make  us  like  each  other  less. 

The  color  of  the  waters  of  the  Savannah  river  closely  resembles 
that  of  a  New  Haven  mud-puddle,  and  after  leaving  our  New 
York  steamer  and  its  excellent  Croton  Avater,  it  Avas  a  constant 
study  Avith  us  how  not  to  drink  it,  there  being  but  a  small  and 
inadequate  supply  of  condensed  Avater  on  our  next  steamer.  We 
approached  the  city  betAveen  Ioav  sedgy  meadows,  some  of  Avhich 
are  utilized  for  the  cultivation  of  rice.  Forts,  Avith  their  large 
guns  still  in  sight,  and  low  mud  batteries,  remain  to  keep  alive 
the  memory  of  the  recent  "unpleasantness,"  while  new  saw-mills, 
large  lumber  yards,  spacious  warehouses,  bales  of  cotton,  barrels 
of  resin  and  turpentine,  tAvcnty-five  or  thirty  first-class  ships 
and  three-masted  schooners  moored  to  Avharves — all  a  mile  beloAv 
the  city  and  near  the  eastern  terminus  of  a  branch  of  the  Gulf 
railroad,  told  of  northern  capital  and  enterprise,  of  the  healing 
and  healthy  influences  of  peace,  and  of  a  groAving  feeling  of 
fraternity  between  those  so  recently  engaged  in  a  life  and  death 
struggle  for  the  mastery  in  the  dreadful  ordeal  of  battle  on  sea 
and  land.     Everything  was  so  quiet  and  peaceful,  it  was  hard  to 


22     ■  ISLES  OF  SUMMEB. 

realize  that  that  whole  section  "was  so  recently  a  vast  military 
camp,  ruled  and  governed  by  a  despotism  such  as  only  war 
necessitates  and  breeds.  Although  defeated,  it  must.be  a  grateful 
luxury  for  the  southern  people  to  inhale  the  glorious  air  of  free- 
dom once  more,  undisturbed  by  war's  alarms,  and  battles  whose 
very  victories  were  purchased  at  a  cost  of  evils  only  equaled  by 
their  defeats. 

The  few  hours  that  intervened  between  the  arrival  of  one 
steamer  and  the  sailing  of  another,  were  pleasantly  occupied  in 
making  a  cursory  examination  of  Georgia's  principal  seaport.  It 
is  a  city  of  parks — some  twenty  or  more  we  believe,  in  all,  great 
and  small,  so  arranged  that  some  one  of  them  is  within  easy  ac- 
cess of  every  citizen's  dwelling.  The  avenues,  pleasantly  shaded, 
turn  every  two  blocks  to  the  right  and  left,  and  surround  emer- 
ald parks — reminding  one  of  the  rivers  of  Florida,  those  blue 
ribbons  upon  which  the  jewelled  lakes  are  strung.  The  largest 
and  most  beautiful  of  the  parks  upon  Bull  street,  is  the  "  Pulas- 
ki." Semi-tropical  trees  of  large  size  and  luxuriant  foliage,  some 
festooned  and  draped  in  gray  moss,  gave  it  a  very  attractive  ap- 
pearance. A  large  new  park  has  been  laid  out  and  enclosed, 
adjoining  this,  called  the  Pulaski  Extension,  upon  which  a  large 
and  handsome  confederate  monument  has  been  erected.  We 
were  pleased  to  see  no  evidence  anywhere  of  the  ruin  and  waste 
that  so  often  mark  the  bloody  footsteps  of  war.  Sherman's 
grand  march  to  the  sea  rendered  the  city's  surrender  without  a 
struggle  an  inevitable  necessity.  Its  forts  and  batteries  were  of 
no  use  with  a  large  victorious  army  entering  its  back  door. 

The  tourist  at  Savannah,  bound  for  Florida,  can  make  the 
journey  in  a  few  hours  by  railroad,  or  go  by  either  of  two  lines 
of  ocean  steamers,  one  of  which  takes  the  route  outside  the 
islands,  and  the  other  avoids  the  hazards  of  the  open  sea  and  the 
discomforts  of  sea  sickness,  by  passing  between  the  coast-islands 


THE   I^^SIDK   KOUTE.  23 

and  the  mainland.  As  time  was  of  little  consequence  to  us,  we 
concluded  to  take  the  latter. 

The  people  of  the  north,  during  the  late  war,  were  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  fact  that  the  Southern  Atlantic  States  have 
their  sea  coast  protected  by  a  long  succession  of  islands,  between 
which  and  the  main  land  steamers  of  light  draft  can  safely  pass 
along  their  whole  extent,  as  far  south  as  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
John's  in  Florida.  Bacteries,  torpedoes,  shoals  and  tortuous 
and  intricate  channels  protected  this  portion  of  the  southern 
seaboard,  so  that  our  navy  found  it  impossible  to  destroy  or 
seriously  cripple  confederate  communication  by  water  along  this 
portion  of  the  coast.  One  needs  to  go  through  these  inside  chan- 
nels to  fairly  comprehend  them.  "VVe  think  of  the  Connecticut 
coast  shielded  by  Long  Island,  but  along  a  portion  of  the  coast 
of  Georgia,  instead  of  a  Sound  thirty  miles  wide,  we  have  narrow 
and  winding  water-ways  more  like  Mill  river  at  the  base  of  East 
Rock.  We  took  the  side-wheel  steamer  ''City  of  Bridgeton "  at 
Savannah  for  Jacksonville  in  Florida — a  boat  that  brousfht  to 
mind  the  steamers  of  the  New  York  and  New  Haven  line  "  long, 
long  ago."  It  has  since  been  modernized  and  very  greatly  im- 
proved, so  much  so  that  we  recognized  this  year  very  little  of  the 
old  boat  except  its  name,  and  even  that  gloried  in  a  sort  of  new 
birth. 

Following  the  doublings  and  sharp  curves  of  the  inside  route, 
as  we  neared  the  river  St.  John's  the  colored  man  at  the 
wheel  required  and  exercised  constant  vigilance  and  the  greatest 
care.  Much  local  knowledge  and  great  practical  skill  were 
brought  into  constant  requisition,  and  only  once  was  the  bow 
of  the  boat  run  into  the  soft  bank.  The  shores  of  the  sedgy 
marshes  were  white  with  extensive  beds  of  oyster  shells,  while 
countless  beds  of  small  oysters  were  everywhere  to  be  seen  as  the 
tide  receded.     Occasionally  we  passed  islands  rich  with  tropical 


24  ISLES   or   SUMMEE. 

vegetation,  where  nature  seemed  to  be  reveling  in  a  j^erfect  wil- 
derness of  beauty,  and  nothing  was  wanting,  unless  perhaj)S  an 
occasional  rocky  bluff  and  mountain  peak  to  give  more  variety 
and  sublimity  to  the  scene.  The  clear  sky  and  balmy  air  were 
in  i^erfect  accord  with  the  beautiful  panorama  that  opened  con- 
stantly before  us  as  we  glided  over  the  quiet  water.  Towards 
the  lower  end  of  this  charming  route,  near  the  close  of  day,  the 
Avhole  blue  dome  of  heaven,  with  all  its  rich  adornment  of  sun- 
set clouds  gorgeously  illumined,  Avas  more  perfectly  reflected  in 
the  still  clear  water  than  the  author  ever  saw  it  before — save 
once  only  on  the  river  St.  John's,  in  the  British  jarovince  of  New 
Brunswick.  That  surpassed  anything  of  the  sort  he  had  ever 
seen  or  conceived,  and  this,  on  the  whole,  excelled  that,  for  soon 
the  side-wheels  of  the  boat  caused  great  circling  eddies-  of  skies, 
frescoed  and  wonderfully  and  indescribably  colored,  to  follow 
the  steamer,  until  gradually,  as  the  daylight  vanished,  this  re- 
markable phenomenon  passed  away — remaining,  however,  indel- 
ibly pictured  iipon  the  memory. 

As  we  ueared  Fernandina,  we  passed  the  Great  and  Little 
Cumberland  islands.  The  largest  is  said  to  be  from  twenty-five 
to  thn-ty  miles  long,  and  two  to  three  miles  wide.  It  abounds 
with  game,  including  hundreds  of  deer,  while  fish  are  very 
abundant  in  the  surrounding  Avaters. 

In  full  view  from  Cumberland  Sound,  which  separates  it  from 
Fernandina,  still  stand  the  roofless  and  wmdowless  walls  of  Avhat 
was  once  one  of  the  most  splendid  residences  of  the  Southern 
States  and  perhaps  of  the  New  World.  Deserted  by  its  owner 
during  the  war,  some  miscreant's  torch  made  it  a  ruin. 

This  island  has  a  history,  and  romance  and  poetry  will  un- 
doubtedly hereafter   draw  from  it  inspiration.     It  will  live  in 
dcatliless  song  and  enduring  story.     It  lies   between  tlie  cu. 
and  healthy  waters  like  an  island  of  the  blessed,  and  the  soft 


DUNGENNESS.      THE    AMELIA    BEACH.  25 

zephyrs  that  pass  over  it,  horn  of  the  not  distant  ocean,  borrow 
perfumes  from  its  aromatic  trees,  its  spicy  bowers  and  sweet- 
scented  flowers. 

The  State  of  Georgia,  as  a  token  of  gratitude  to  General 
Nathaniel  Greene,  of  revolutionary  fame  and  memory,  conveyed 
to  him  one-half  of  the  island.  He  died  too  soon  to  derive  much 
benefit  from  a  gift  which  reflected  back  a  pleasing  lustre  upon 
the  donors.  The  General's  widow  married  a  wealthy  man  by 
the  name  of  Miller,  Avho  made  the  island  his  home  and  spent  his 
money  most  lavishly  in  erecting  a  palatial  mansion,  opening 
splendid  drives,  laying  out  the  grounds,  and  adorning  them  with 
all  the  choice  ti-ees  and  flowers  that  are  found  or  can  be  made  to 
live  in  the  vicinity  of  the  tropics. 

The  place  is  called  "  Dungenness."  Upon  the  island  are  the 
remains  of  "  Light  Horse  Harry  Lee,''  one  of  the  heroes  of  1776, 
and  the  father  of  General  Lee,  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
late  Confederate  armies.  Excursion  parties  visit  Dungenness 
from  Fernandina  frequently,  and  in  the  future  it  Avill  no  doubt 
grow  in  popular  favor.  AVe  visited  the  island  the  present  year 
but  defer,  for  the  present,  a  nu)r(\  particular  description  of  it. 

The  Bridgeton  made  a  detour  for  the  purpose  of  stopping  at 
St.  Mary,  situated  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  that  name 
Avhich  constitutes  in  part  tlie  dividing  line  between  Georgia  and 
Florida.  In  the  palmy  days  of  the  Georgia  planters  St.  Mary 
was  quite  a  place  of  fashionable  summer  resort,  and  considerable 
money  was  spent  upon  its  docks,  avenues,  buildings  and  gardens. 
But  it  suffered  severely  during  the  war,  its  docks  and  warehouses 
were  destroyed,  and  not  much  remains  to  indicate  what  it  has 
been.  Its  climate,  cooled  by  the  occauj  is  said  to  be  very  fa- 
vorable to  health. 

Our  steamer  stopped  at  Fernandina  just  long  enough  to  enable 
ITS  to  ride  through  its  streets,  ujjou  one  of  which  we  were  pleased 

3 


26  ISLES   OF    SUMMER. 

to  see  the  recently  raised  frame  for  one  new  house,  as  evidencing 
the  fact  that  enterprise  is  here  awakening,  though  very  slowly, 
from  its  long  sleep.  We  rode  a  mile  over  a  sandy  road  through 
a  thicket  of  palmettoes  and  wild  vines  and  bushes,  beyond  the 
"city,"  to  its  famous  Amelia  Beach,  which  is  one  of  the  finest 
ocean  beaches  we  have  seen.  For  eighteen  or  twenty  miles  the 
white  beach  of  a  uniform  character  extended,  the  dip  being  so 
gentle  that  a  wide  belt  was  left  between  the  sand  hills  and  low- 
Avater  mark,  which  tlie  incoming  ocean  tides  had  pounded  and 
compacted  until  but  little  impression  was  made  upon  it  by  the 
hoofs  of  our  horses.  The  shoals  near  the  shore  caused  the  waves 
to  break  into  stretches  of  white  spray  crests,  and  gave  a  pleasing 
variety  to  the  ocean  view.  The  gentle  waves,  as  they  approached, 
rolled  u])  as  they  reached  the  shore,  and  adorned  the  extreme 
edge  with  a  beautiful  white  border  of  foam  in  an  unbroken  line 
of  many  miles.  The  mildness  and  softness  of  the  air,  and  the 
pleasing  and  soothing  murmur  of  the  water,  so  gently  rolling 
in  upon  the  white  sand  beach,  almost  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see, 
caused  us  to  prolong  our  stay  to  the  very  last  minute  of  our 
allotted  time.  The  hard,  smooth  beach  of  Fernandina,  with  its 
unobstructed  ocean  view  on  the  one  side,  and  sand  hills  on  the 
other,  as  we  saw  it  then,  will  ever  occupy  a  sunny  sj)ot  in  our 
memory. 

It  was  eleven  o'clock  at  night  when  we  reached  the  Windsor 
Hotel,  at  Jacksonville  upon  the  St.  John's  river,  thankful  that 
thus  far  our  ocean  trip  in  midwinter  had  been  so  extremely  pleas- 
ant, and  that  nothing  had  occurred  to  give  us  a  moment's  uneasi- 
ness. It  is  true,  the  same  kind  Providence  would  have  been  over 
us  had  we  made  our  journey  by  land,  but  some  j^ersons  who  came 
that  way,  seemed  more  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  in  the  con- 
struction and  operation  of  southern  railroads  some  evil  genius 
had  been  permitted  to  have  things  pretty  much  his  own  way. 


THE   GULF   STEEAM.  27 

With  the  return  of  prosperity  under  the  banner  of  peace,  im- 
proved and  more  safe  communication  by  rail  will  follow  as  a 
necessary  consequence. 

After  spending  a  few  days  in  Florida  (rendered  necessary  by 
the  fact  that  no  opportunity  existed  for  sooner  continuing  our 
journey)  we  at  last  were  al)le  to  cross  over  to  Nassau  on  the  side 
wheel  steamer  Secret.  The  passage  occupied  fifty-two  hours. 
She  was  advertised  to  make  the  run  in  thirty-six  hours,  but  the 
time  Avas  purposely  understated  in  order  to  make  the  trip  appear 
more  attractive  to  the  seekers  of  health  and  pleasure.  The  Secret 
A\-as  about  fifteen  years  old,  English  built,  sheathed  outside  with 
iron  and  was  constructed  somewhat  after  the  model  of  a  Connec- 
ticut river  shad,  being  very  long  and  very  narrow.  According  to 
a  Jacksonville  newspaper,  her  length  was  231  feet,  and  her  breadth 
26  feet.  She  v/as  built  for  a  blockade  runner,  and  was  consid- 
ered a  good  sea  boat.  We  found  her  state  rooms  and  berths  too 
small  for  comfort,  and  the  ajoproaches  to  the  dining  saloon  long, 
narrow,  unpleasant  and  unsavory.  But  we  are  disj^osed  to  apply 
the  bridge  rule  to  steamboats,  and  to  speak  well  of  those  which 
carry  us  safely. 

Before  leaving  home  we  doated  on  the  Gulf  Stream.  It  was 
our  ideal  salt  water,  and  bore  the  same  relative  position  to  the 
rest  of  the  ocean  world  tliat  the  Garden  of  Eden  did  to  all  the 
islands  and  continents  outside.  When  the  fifty  sejjaratc  and 
distinct  persons  on  as  many  different  occasions  asked  us  if  v/e  were 
not  afraid  to  take  an  ocean  voyage  in  winter,  and  more  especially 
Avhen  every  newspaper  Avas  and  had  for  some  time  l)een  filled 
with  accounts  of  terrific  storms,  accom})anicd  Ijy  winds  before 
Avhicli  the  strongest  shijxs  were  like  so  many  egg  shells,  tlie  ready 
reply  which  then  so  satisfied  us  seemed  to  be  equally  satisfactory 
to  them;  "  Oh,  no;  Ave  do  not  fear  or  dread  it  at  all,  for  in  thirty 
hours  from  Xcav  York  we  will  be  in  the  Gulf  Stream,  Avhere  the 


28  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

water,  flowing  in  a  stream  a  thousand  times  larger  than  the  Mis- 
sissippi river,  from  liot  e(|aatorial  regions,  is  always  warm,  and 
the  air,  loaded  with  ozone,  saline  and  other  health  imparting 
ingredients,  is  as  warm  and  pleasant  as  that  which  Ave  breathe 
at  our  best  seaside  resorts  in  summer  ;  storm-caught  and  ice- 
coated  vessels  run  into  it  to  thaw  out."'  But  alas!  all  our  ideals 
vanish  into  thin  air  and  disappear  forever  the  moment  we  at- 
tempt to  seize  them  with  our  hands  of  flesh.  The  beautiful 
vision  of  the  Gulf  Stream  exists  for  us  no  more.  It  will  never 
return.  We  have  been  there.  We  were  from  eight  to  ten  hours 
crossing  it  at  an  oblique  angle.  We  rolled  and  tossed  "in  and 
over"  it  to  the  content  of  our  hearts  and  the  disturbance  of  our 
stomachs.  As  it  piled  up  its  huge  waves  higher  than  our  ship, 
one  after  another  of  the  passengers  seemed  to  have  "a  call ''  to 
go  somcAvhere  else,  and  left  the  deck,  first  bending  over  the  guard 
rail,  Avitli  their  faces  turned  mysteriously  towards  the  angry 
waters,  Avith  an  ;ig(Miizcd  exijression;  as  though  they  had  caught 
sight  of  some  large  sea  serpent.  One  gentleman  Avas  asked  by 
an  innocent  sym})athizer  if  he  Avas  sick.  The  quick  and  forcible 
reply  seemed  to  be  perfectly  satisfactory,  '"Do  you  think  I  am 
such  a  d — n  fool  tluit  I  am  doing  all  this  for  fun?"  Having 
personally  paid  unwilling  triljute  to  Neptune,  Ave  turned  our  back 
upon  tlie  foam-crested  billows  and  took  refuge  in  our  little  sar- 
dine box  below,  Avhere,  Avitli  the  port  hole  closed,  Ave  lay  above 
the  heaving  l)osom  of  this  enchanting  ocean-river.  And  noAv, 
ever  and  anon,  upon  all  sorts  of  occasions,  the  Gulf  Stream,  disen- 
chanted, calls  up  the  same  memories  and  fills  us  Avith  the  same 
feelings  of  thankfulness  and  gratitude  Avhich  Sancho  Panza 
experienced  Avhenever  he  thought  of  the  blanket  in  Avhich  lie 
Avas  ingloriously  tossed  in  the  yard  of  the  Spanish  inn.  The 
steamer  in  Avhich  Ave  left  Ncav  York,  had  carefully  hugged  the 
shores  of  the  Atlantic  States  and  kept  out  of  it,  and  we  skirted. 


JlPtftOArH  to   K-ASSATT.  29 

tlie  east  coast  of  Florida  below  Jacksonville  for  some  twenty- 
eiglit  hours  before  we  turned  near  Jupiter  Light  to  enter  and 
cross  it. 

One  cannot  understand  the  phrase  ''A  wilderness  of  waters" 
until  he  actually  sails  day  after  day  Avith  nothing  in  view  but 
the  deep  below  and  tlie  deep  above.  On  the  second  day  out 
from  Jacksonville  we  first  sighted,  off  our  starboard  quarter,  a 
faint  trace  of  curling  smoke  in  the  distance,  and  soon,  after 
crossing  our  bow,  a  Ilavanna  steamer  exchanged  flag  salutations 
Avitli  the  Secret. 

The  character  and  disposition  of  people  are  often  strikingly 
displayed  on  shipboard.  .Some  are  so  kind,  so  considerate,  so 
mindful  of  their  fellow-voyagers,  so  forgetful  of  themselves. 
Otliers  seem  to  believe  that  the  world,  and  all  that  it  contains 
that  is  worth  having,  was  made  expressly  for  themselves.  They 
seem  lineally  descended  from  the  man  v,iiose  only  prayer  to  God 
was  that  He  would 

'*  Bless  me  and  my  wife, 
My  son  Jolin  und  liis  wife, 
Us  four — and  no  more!" 

And  also  to  1)e  very  nearly  related  to  the  individual  wlio  owned 
one-lialf  of  a  negro,  and  wlu)  was  accustomed  to  request  the  di- 
vine blessing  for  "myself,  my  wife,  and  my  half  of  Jake." 

A  novel  siglit  prescnlcd  ifself  as  we  approached  tlie  ship's 
dock  at  Nassau.  The  pci-fectly  clear  and  ti-ansparent  water,  ex- 
quisitely and  indescribably  colored ;  I  he  old,  weather-worn  vessels 
at  anchor;  tbe  forts  and  sea-walls;  the  uiiite  streets  and  white 
stone  buildings,  all  of  coral  limestone,  coiitraslcd  oddly  witli  the 
crowds  of  persons,  mostly  colored,  that  lilled  all  the  docks, 
streets  and  standing  places  at  and  near  the  landing.     We  were 


§0  Isles  of  stTMMER. 

within  several  rods  of  the  dock  when  a  dozen  nearly  naked 
little  Africans  commenced  the  sport  of  diving  off  the  dock  into 
the  deep  water  after  the  coins  which  the  passengers  threw  over- 
board. They  seemed  to  be  amphibious  and  were  all  expert 
swimmers.  They  generally  succeeded  in  securing  the  much 
coveted  prizes  before  the  latter  reached  the  bottom.  But  little, 
in  fact  no  real  annoyance,  aside  from  the  delay,  was  experienced 
from  the  custom  house  officials,  and  we  soon  found  ourselves  at 
home  in  the  Eoyal  Victoria  Hotel,  one  of  tlie  finest  buildings  of 
the  kind  in  the  Western  world. 


CHAPTER  11. 

A  Break-icater  of  Idands,  Rocks,  Reefs  and  Banks  over  2,000  miles  long. 
The  Baliama  Archipelago.  The  Gulfs,  Sounds  and  Shijy  CJiannels  that  pene- 
trate  and  surround  the  Group.  Modern  Science  discovering  Hidden  Chapters 
of  the  Earth's  History.  Monuments  of  Buried  Lands.  Ocean  Thorough- 
fares.    The  Bermudas — their  Gradual  Subsidence. 

"We  sailed  the  sea,  thick  sown  with  clustering  isles." — Virgil. 
"These  precious  stones  set  in  a  silver  sea." — Shakkspkakk. 

Having  determined  to  visit  the  Bahamas,  the  author  com- 
menced immediately  to  brush  away  the  dust  which  had  during 
a  number  (please  excuse  him  from  not  specifying  more  particu- 
larly how  many)  of  decades  of  years,  covered  and  obliterated  the 
geographical  knowledge  of  his  school-boy  days.  Learning  is  like 
wealth — not  to  have  it  is  less  discreditable  than  unfounded  pre- 
tensions. His  life  would  have  been  worth  but  very  little  had  it 
then  depended  upon  his  ability  to  accurately  locate  and  particu- 
larly describe  Nassau  and  the  island  of  New  Providence,  or  the 
group  of  which  that  island  forms  a  part.  Is  it  too  much  for  him 
to  assume  that  his  ignorance  was  not  exceptional,  and  that  nearly 
all  of  his  readers  can  truthfully  make  a  similar  confession  ?  Let 
the  favored  few  who  occupy  the  geographical  front  seats  excuse 
the  author,  and  grant  him  their  kind  indulgence,  while,  for  the 
benefit  of  others,  he  airs  a  little  his  recently  resurrected,  and,  to 
some  extent,  newly  acquired  geographical  knowledge. 

31 


33  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

It  will  be  seen  upon  referring  to  any  good  map  of  the  West 
India  Islands  that  an  immense  number  of  islands  are  distributed 
upon  a  line  over  two  thousand  miles  long,  which  trends  south- 
easterly from  a  point  relatively  near  the  coast  of  Florida,  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Orinoco  Eiver  in  South  America.  Sprinkled 
among  these  are  many  reefs,  thousands  of  rocks,  and  little  islets 
which  are  called  by  the  English  keys  and  by  the  Spaniards  cays. 
The  north-westerly  portion,  of  this  chain  is  composed  of  the 
Bahama  archipelago,  and  embraces  thirty-nine  islands,  six  hun- 
dred and  sixty-one  keys,  and  two  thousand  three  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  rocks. 

This  Island  system  constitutes  a  vast  breakwater,  and  shelters 
from  the  winds  and  waves  of  the  wide  and  stormy  Atlantic,  the 
Caribbean  Sea  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  which  bodies  of  water  are 
perfectly  land-locked  on  their  other  sides.  Were  the  ocean 
waters  drawn  off,  we  should  have,  in  place  of  this  island  system, 
the  Bahama  and  Caribbean  mountains,  a  lofty  range,  elevated 
thousands  of  feet  above  the  neighboring  plains  and  valleys, 
towering  high  up  in  the  air  as  they  now  do  in  the  water,  Avith 
large  areas  of  high  table  land.  The  location  of  the  islands  to  the 
windward  of  the  banks  has  favored  the  formation  and  growth  of 
the  latter. 

The  Bahama  group  rises  out  of  several  submerged  tables  of  a 
soft  calcareous  rock,  the  two  largest  of  which  arc  known  respec- 
tively as  the  Great  and  Little  Bahama  Banks.  The  water  upon 
these  banks  attains  a  maximum  depth  of  several  liundred  feet. 
The  Little  Bank  is  the  most  northerly,  and  is  only  seventy  miles 
from  the  coast  of  Florida.  It  embraces  a  superficial  area  of 
5,5G0  square  miles,  including  1,200  square  miles  of  islands,  and 
has  a  breadth  of  from  thirty-five  to  sixty  miles.  Its  principal 
islands  are  Great  and  Little  Abaco  and  Grand  Bahama.  Tlie 
two  former  are  separated  from  each  other  by  a  narrow  channel. 


THE  BAHAMAS.  33 

and  witli  their  numerous  keys  extend  along  the  eastern  edge  of 
the  Little  Bahama  Bank  for  nearly  a  hundred  miles.  At  the 
southerly  extremity  of  Ahaco  is  the  famous  "  Hole-in-the-Vv'all " 
— a  large  opening  through  and  helow  the  top  of  a  ridge  of  calca- 
reous rock.  Also  a  light  house  bearing  the  same  name.  A  lady 
informed  us  that  several  years  since,  while  sailing  past  Abaco, 
she  saw  the  sun  at  its  setting  through  this  ''Hole-in-the-Wall," 
and  that  the  globe  of  fire,  in  its  setting  of  rock,  left  an  indelible 
picture  of  rare  and  exquisite  beauty  upon  her  memory. 

The  north-west  and  north-east  Providence  Channels  separate 
the  Little  from  the  Great  Bahama  Bank.  The  distance  between 
the  Banks  varies  from  fifteen  to  forty-five  miles. 

"The  north-east  Providence  Channel  separates  Abaco  from 
the  island  of  Eleuthera  and  the  keys  on  its  northern  shore,  which 
lie  twenty-seven  miles  to  the  south-east  of  the  Hole-in-the-Wall." 

"  The  whole  of  the  trade  from  North  America  and  Europe  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,"  says  Gov.  Eawson,  ''passes  by  the  north 
of  the  Bahama  Lslands.  Steamers  bound  to  the  south,  stem  the 
rapid  current  of  the  Florida  Channel,"  between  the  Banks  and 
Florida.  Sailing  vessels  pass  between  Abaco  and  Eleuthera 
through  the  Providence  Channels,  within  forty  miles  of  Nassau, 
into  the  Gulf  of  Florida.  "All  the  return-bound  trade  to  the 
north,  whether  using  steam  or  sails,  passes  with  the  [Gulf]  stream 
tlirougli  the  Florida  Channel." 

"From  Eleuthera  follow,  in  the  same  direction,  south-east 
and  then  south,  a  succession  of  long  narrow  islands,  viz. : — St. 
Salvador  or  Cat  Island,  Long  Island,  Ragged  Island  and  its  keys. 
*  *  *  Outside  the  bank,  forty-eight  miles  cast  of  tbe  south 
of  St.  Salvadoi',  lies  Watling  Island,  *  *  *  and  twenty-four 
miles  from  the  north-east  end  of  Long  Island  lies  Rum  Key;" 
between  which  and  the  island  of  St.  Salvador,  is  the  small  island 
of  Conception, 


34  ISLES   OF   SUMMEE. 

South-east  of  Long  Island,  beyond  the  Great  Bank,  and 
separated  from  it  by  a  channel  twenty-five  miles  wide,  is  Crooked 
Island  ;  then  succeeds  Acklin's  Island,  with  a  very  shallow  con- 
necting channel,  once  reputed  fordable  in  its  narrowest  i^art. 
To  the  north-east  of  Crooked  Island  is  Sumona,  or  Atwood  Key. 
Plana  or  French  keys  are  east  of  Acklin's  Island.  Tlien  successive- 
ly follow  in  the  same  direction  (south-east),  the  Caicos,  the  Maya- 
guana  and  the  Turks  Islands — the  last  of  this  inhabited  chain 
of  islands,  six  hundred  miles  in  extent,  which  stretch  from  a  point 
seventy  miles  from  Florida  to  within  a  hundred  miles  of  St. 
Domingo.  The  Caicos  and  the  Turks  Islands  once  were  Avithin 
the  governmental  jurisdiction  of  the  Bahamas,  but  are  now  po- 
litically associated  with  Jamaica. 

Three  smaller  banks,  separated  by  channels  thirty  to  fifty 
miles  wide,  and  called  respectively  Mouchoir,  Carre,  Silver  and 
Navidad,  extend  still  further  to  the  south-east,  for  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles. 

Nearly  in  the  latitude  of  the  Turks  Islands,  and  from  sixty 
to  seventy  miles  south  of  Acklin's  Island  and  Mayaguana,  are 
Great  and  Little  Inagua  or  Ileneagua,  detached,  and  some  sixty- 
five  miles  north  of  the  north-western  extremity  of  St.  Domingo. 
Great  Inagua  is  one  of  the  largest  and  best  of  the  Bahamas. 
Exuma,  with  its  extensive  chain  of  keys,  lies  uj^on  the  eastern 
edge  of  the  Great  Bank,  and  upon  the  western  side  of  Exuma 
Sound.  This  Sound  has  an  average  width  of  forty  miles,  ex- 
tends north-westerly  about  one  hundred  miles,  and  breaks  the 
continuity  of  the  Great  Bank  between  St.  Salvador  and  Long 
Island. 

A  very  deep  sound  called  The  Tongue-of-the-Ocean  is  pro- 
jected into  the  Great  Bank  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  ten 
miles.  Major  General  Nelson,  R.  E.,  describes  it  as  having  the 
deep  blue  color  of  oceanic  depths,  while  **tlie  color  of  the  water 


THE  BASA:^rAS.  35 

around  the  islands  is  usually  that  of  the  aqica-marine  of  beryl." 
On  its  western  edge,  and  skirting  the  Great  Bank  lies  Andros 
island,  much  the  largest  of  the  grou]),  being  ninety-five  miles 
long  and  having  a  maximum  width  of  thirty-eight  miles. 

The  Berry  islands  are  north-east  of  Andros  ;  they  are  arranged 
in  the  form  of  a  crescent.  The  horns  point  to  tlie  east,  and  arc 
separated  by  a  distance  of  some  forty  miles.  The  south-Avest 
shore  of  Abaco,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  north-west  Providence 
Channel,  is  only  thirty  miles  distant  from  these  little  islands. 

The  Biminis  are  two  small  islands  rendered  famous  from  the 
fact  that  the  Fountain  of  Youth  was  reported,  in  the  time  of 
Ponce  de  Leon,  to  be  located  upon  one  of  them.  They  are 
twenty-five  miles  south  of  the  north-western  portion  of  the 
Great  Bahama  Bunk,  and  arc  described  as  ''small,  pretty  and 
fertile." 

The  Santareen  and  Old  Bahama  Channels  are  south  of  the 
Great  Bahama  Bank.  AYest  of  the  former  is  situated  tlie  Cay 
Sal  Bank,  embracing  fourteen  hundred  and  thirty  square  miles, 
including  some  uninhabited  Keys;  while  south  of  the  latter 
channel  is  the  island  of  Cuba. 

Gov.  Eawson  states  that  '"'all  the  trade  from  North  America 
to  Cuba,  St.  Domingo,  Jamaica,  the  Gulf  of  Honduras,  and  the 
northern  coast  of  South  America  passes  south  to  the  windward 
[/'.  e.  east]  of  the  group,  and  close  to  the  shores  of  Inagua. 
'i'iie  return  trade,  and  all  the  European  trade  from  the  same 
countries  passes  north,  either  through  the  Crooked  Island  pas- 
sages, or  the  Inagua  or  Caicos  Channels.  These  islands  there- 
fore lie  in  the  track  of  tv;o  great  streams  of  trade,  and,  at  times, 
scores  of  vessels  i)ass  daily  by  the  'Ilole-in-the-Wall,'  and  the 
south  western  point  of  Inagua." 

New  Providence,  ui)on  which  Nassau  is  situated,  is  upon  the 
northern  edge  of  the  Great  Bahama  Bank,  fifty  miles  south-west 


u 


ISLES   OF  SUMMER. 


of  the  nortli-east  extremity  of  tlic  l);inl<:,  ;it  the  eastern  entrance 
of  "The  Tongne-of-the-Ocean,"  and  is  approaclicd  tlirough 
either  the  north-Avest  or  nortli-east  Providence  Channels,  the 
former  of  which  connects  it  \vitl\  the  Florida  Gulf  and  is  trav- 
ei'sed  by  the  steamers  which  hring  Nassau's  winter  visitors  from 
the  states. 

The  following  table  is  copied  from  Gov.  Rawson's  report : 


9. 
10. 
11. 
13. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
IG. 

17. 

18. 

19. 


Andres, 

Abaco,  Great, 

Little, 

Inagua,  Great, 

"         Little, 

Grand  Bahama, 

Crooked  Island, 

Acklin's  Island 

Fortune  Island,  (Long  Cay) 

Eleuthera, 

Spanish  Wells, 

St.  Sal  vador, 

Long  Island, 

Exunia,  Great  and  Little,.. 

IMayat^iian  a, 

New  Providence, 

Watlini,f's  Island, 

Rum  Cay, 

Bimiuis,  North, 

"  South, 

Ragged  Island  and  Cay, 

Berry  Island,  Great, 

Harbour  Cay, 

Harbour  Island, 

Total 


k^qnare  Miles. 


080) 

90  >' 

530 } 

30 ; 

70) 
121) 

8) 


3   } 


1,000 
770 

500 
430 

L^04 

104 

100" 
130 
110 
90 
85 
00 
29 

8:V 


4,424 


Extreme 
Lull  <:  111. 


Miles. 


95 
70 
24 
34 
8 
00 
19 
41 
10 


42 
00 
32 
23 
19| 
13 
9.i 

^1 
3.^ 
5.; 
0' 


E.Ktrcme 
Breaath. 


Miles. 


38 
17 

5 
25 

7 
11 

8 
10 

U 
11 

14 

7 

0 

7 

0 

5 

U 

l| 

2f 

U 


Averaire 
Breadth. 


Miles. 


12 

4 

10 

7 


U 
3' 

3 
1 

u 


The  foregoing  table  shows  proximately  the  length,  breadth 


felJRiED   LAKDS.  37 

and  size  of  tlio  principal  Bahama  islands,  exclusive  of  the  keys 
which  cluster  around  them. 

This  extensive  and  singular  group  of  islands,  so  unlike  the 
New  England  that  the  author  had  left  l)oliind  him,  charmed  by 
its  novelty,  and  elicited  entliusiastic  admiration. 

"He  found  in  all  that  met  his  eyes, 
The  freshness  of  a  glad  surprise." 

They  repose  in  the  lap  of  unending  summer.  Daring  enter- 
prise, resistless  courage,  and  the  intense  activities  of  busy  human 
life,  do  not  cross  the  great  ocean  river.  No  blighting  and  kill- 
ing frosts  are  ever  found  between  its  eastern  margin  and  the 
rising  sun.  To  all  that  we  have  been  accustomed,  or  ever  ex- 
perienced before,  it  liad  been  i)ractically  the  stream  of  oblivion — ■ 
the  river  of  death.  The  ancient  seers  Avho  saw  and  pictured 
heaven  dwelt  in  warm  sunny  climes.  None  of  the  streets  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  which  they  saw  with  spiritual  vision,  were  paved 
with  ice  or  blockaded  with  snow.  We  here  found  the  sea  so 
smooth,  the  wind  so  mild,  the  air  so  agreeably  warm,  the  sky 
so  serene,  the  clouds  so  soft  and  delicately  tinted,  and  our  mind 
and  lieartwere  pervaded  by  such  a  spirit  of  resignation,  content- 
ment and  peace — of  love  to  God  and  good  will  towards  man — 
while  the  past  appeared  so  unreal  and  dreamy, — we  at  times  were 
almost  ready  to  believe  that  our  "mortal  had  put  on  immor- 
tality," But  the  regular  ])t'riodio  return  of  luingcr,  and  an 
appetite  that  gave  a  keen  rclisli  to  tlie  gross  food  of  earth,  soon 
convinced  us  that  we  still  inhabitrcd  our  old  bodies,  and  fly-like, 
adhered  to  the  surface  of  one  of  the  sun's  revolving  satelites. 

In  tliis  new  world  our  curiosity  was  awakened  and  greatly 
stimulated.  What  part,  we  in(piircd,  have  those  imnnuise  banks, 
with  their  clustered  isles  played  in  the  world's  history?  In 
what  manner  were  they  made?     How  nuiiiy  thousands  of  years 

4 


S8  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

were  involved  in  tlieir  construction?  Wliat  great  cosmic  and 
geological  trntlisis  this  mnrmuring  ocean  endeavoring  to  reveal? 

In  groping  after  trntli,  man  passes  over  the  bridge  of  the 
known  to  the  dark  and  shadowy  regioi>s  of  the  unknown.  Up- 
ward he  treads  the  rounds  of  a  ladder  bottomed  upon  earth  but 
lost  in  impenetrable  clouds.  Yet,  when  considered  in  connec- 
tion with  human  insignificance,  there  is  much  which  man  has 
been  enabled  to  learn,  and  in  no  department  of  human  knowl- 
edge has  greater  progress  been  made  than  in  that  of  geology, — ■ 
a  science  that  underlies,  and,  to  some  extent,  explains  the  facts 
of  physical  geography. 

*'The  Egyptian  priests  told  Herodotus  that  from  the  time  of 
their  first  king,  which  was  eleven  tliousand  and  odd  years,  the 
sun  had  four  times  altered  his  course;  that  the  sea  and  the  earth 
did  alternately  change  into  one  another."'*  New  evidences  of 
some  of  these  changes,  clear  and  indisputable,  have  been  found 
in  our  own  time  and  country.  Upon  the  American  continent, 
man  walks  and  works,  and  muses  upon  mountains  and  plains 
once  ajoortion  of  the  ocean's  bed.  Vast  quantities  of  the  skele- 
tons of  "monsters  of  the  deep,"  and  marine  fauna,  of  families 
and  genera  and  species  siipposed  to  l)e  now  extinct,  are  entombed 
in  tlie  profound  deptlis  of  its  rocks.  Upon  the  low,  long  and 
narrow  islands  and  keys  composing  the  Baluima  Archipelago,  in 
the  soft,  languid  and  voluptuous  air,  we  pensively  muse  above  a 
continent  that  nature,  in  one  of  her  sublime  convulsions,  or  by  a 
slow  l)ut  no  less  grand  process,  reij  airing  cycles  of  time  of  vast  and 
inconceivable  extent  for  its  completion,  has  buried  from  human 
siglit  in  the  unfathomable  depths  of  a  wild  waste  of  waters. 
There  is  something  grand  and  appalling  in  the  chaj^ters  of  the 
earth's  autobiograpliy  as  disclosed  by  its  continents  and  ocean 
isles.     Like  the  astronomer  who  discerns  and  translates  for  us 

*  Montaigne. 


BURIED    LAXDS. 


^9 


''the  thoughts  of  God  in  the  sky,"  so  the  geologist  wlio  reads  to 
us  from  the  book  of  the  rocks,  seems,  like  Moses  upon  Sinai,  to 
commune  Avith  Jehovah  and  to  have  his  lips  hallowed  with  a 
divine  inspiration. 

To  man's  inquiring  tliouglit,  the  ocean  responds  only  in  dirge- 
like harmonies.  In  its  mystic  and  profound  depths,  during  tlie 
long  and  silent  ages,  the  sea  has  kept  its  secrets  well.  But  in 
our  own  time — thanks  to  a  Darwin,  a  Dana,  a  Marsh,  and  an 
Agassiz — the  key  of  the  known  has  unlocked  many  of  the  m3^s- 
teries  of  the  unknown,  and  in  these  rocky  isles  we  now  behold 
the  head-stones  of  lands  that  tlie  sea  engulfed  ! 

Prof.  Dana,  in  his  work  upon  Corals  and  Coral  Islands,  after 
alluding  to  "the  northern  continental  upward  movements  whicli 
introduced  the  glacial  era,"  and  stating  that  ''wliilo  the  earth's 
crust  was  arching  upAvard"at  tlic  nortli,  ''it  may  have  been 
bending  downward  over  the  vast  central  area  of  the  great  ocean," 
adds: 

"Tlie  changes  Avhich  took  place,  contemporaneously,  in  the 
Atlantic  tropics,  are  very  imperfectly  recorded.  Tlie  Bahamas 
show  by  their  form  and  i)osition  that  tliey  cover  a  submerged 
land  of  large  area,  stretcliing  over  six  hundred  miles  from  north- 
west to  south-east.  The  long  line  of  reefs,  and  the  Florida 
keys,  trending  far  away  from  Southern  Floi-ida,  arc  evidence 
that  this  Florida  region  participated  in  the  downward  movement, 
though  to  a  less  extent  than  the  Bahamas.  Again,  the  islands 
of  the  West  Indies  diminish  in  size  to  the  eastward,  being  (juite 
small  in  the  long  line  that  looks  out  upon  the  broad  ocean,  just 
as  if  the  subsidence  increased  in  tliat  direction.  Finally,  the 
Atlantic  beyond  is  water  only,  as  if  it  had  .been  made  a  blank  ])y 
the  sinking  of  the  lands." 

•1*  't*  -P  ^i  ^  •T*  T« 

"The  peninsula  of  Florida,  Cuba  and  the  Bahamas,  look,  as 


40  iSLES   OF   SUMMER. 

they  lie  together,  as  if  all  were  once  part  of  a  greater  Florida  or 
soutii-castern  prolongation  of  the  continent.  The  north-western 
and  sontli-western  trends,  characterizing  the  great  featnres  of 
the  American  continent,  rnn  throngli  the  whole  like  a  warp  and 
woof  structure,  binding  them  togetlier  in  one  system." 

To  the  author  of  this  book  it  seems  probal)le,  from  a  simple 
examination  of  a  good  West  India  map,  tliat  the  subsidence  ex- 
tended in  tlie  same  general  direction  to  Soutli  America,  a  dis- 
tance of  some  fifteen  hundred  miles  furtlier.  AVliile  the  crust 
of  the  earth  was  being  elevated,  depressed  and  rolled  "like  a 
scroll,"'  it  would  have  been  a  slight  matter  to  have  enlarged  the 
area  of  disturbance  to  the  extent  supposed. 

In  the  shallow  water,  upon  the  mountain  tops,  tlie  corals 
planted  their  colonies,  and  these  islands,  and  banks,  these  coral 
rocks  and  coral  sands,  entirely  destitute  as  they  are  of  primitive 
or  volcanic  rocks,  and  of  fossil  remains,  are  their  monuments. 
Geologically  speaking  the  Bahamas  are  of  a  very  recent  age. 
This  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  their  hammocks  and  woods  are 
almost  destitute  of  soil,  yet  the  growth  of  coral  islands  is  exceed- 
ingly slow.  The  coral  groves  and  bowers  are  individually  of 
small  extent,  very  unlike  the  "illimitable  forests"  of  the  floral 
world,  and  the  limestone  annually  secreted  seems  in  quantity  re- 
latively insignificant.  Tlie  vast  areas  of  coral  limestones  and  of 
coral  sands,  are  composed  only  of  the  detritus,  torn,  grounded 
and  scattered  by  an  ocean  never  at  rest,  and  often  exhibiting  an 
energy  and  power  almost  divine,  and  of  fragments  of  marine 
shells  broken,  pounded  and  rounded  in  the  same  way.  Shells 
of  existing  species  are  found  in  the  rocks,  and  Cliarles  Burnside, 
Esq.,  son  of  a  late  Surveyor-general  of  the  Bahamas,  informed 
us  that  in  a  Nassau  quarry  upon  his  grounds  wliich  we  visited,  a 
large  and  perfect  egg  was  taken  from  tlie  rock  at  a  distance  of 
sixteen  feet  below  the  rock's  surface.     It  is  clear  that  ocean  has 


StJRIED   LAKDS.  41 

been  and  is  one  of  the  grinding  mills  of  tlie  gods,  and  tliat  dura- 
tion or  extent  of  time  is  only  a  conception  of  man.  It  is  said  to 
require  under  favorable  circumstances  a  tbousand  years  to  make 
five  perpendicular  feet  of  coral  limestone,  and  that  coral  rock 
exists  in  the  Pacific  ocean  two  thousand  feet  thick.  In  contrast 
with  such  almost  infinite  durations,  well  may  the  Chinese  phil- 
osophers and  sages  compare  the  life  of  man  with  the  little  insig- 
nificant span  of  the  measuring  worm. 

The  important  pa'.t  taken  by  the  Bahama  shell  fish  in  the 
formation  of  the  banks  and  rocks  of  the  Bahamas  is  indicated 
by  their  very  great  abundance.  Major-General  Nelson  states 
that  "at  Six  Hills  (Caicos  Group)  the  mass  of  Conch  Shells 
{Strombus  gigas)  is  so  great  and  sufficiently  cemented  together 
as  to  form  not  only  a  rock,  but  an  island  several  hundred  feet  in 
length," 

While  the  highest  land  in  the  Bahamas  is  230  feet  above  the 
sea,  generally  the  hills  on  the  larger  islands  are  much  under  100 
feet  in  height,  and  from  10  to  50  feet  on  the  islets.  They  abound 
with  "pit  holes"  and  "rock  marshes."  The  water  upon  the 
lower  flats  is  brackish  and  rises  and  falls,  though  not  contem- 
poraneously with  the  tide,  or  at  a  uniform  rate.  There  arc  many 
ordinary  and  mangrove  swamps,  small  and  shallow,  more  or  less 
connected  with  the  sea.  So  far  as  there  is  any  soil  it  is  found  in 
tlie  little  pockets  in  the  rocks,  and  is  scant  and  fertile.  There 
are  also  large  areas  of  "pine  barrens"  where  the  pine  and  the 
palm  flourish  side  by  side — the  north  and  the  south  to  tliis 
extent  meeting  and  mingling  harmoniousl}'  in  the  floral  world. 
Lakes  of  salt  or  brackish  water  mirror  the  heavens  and  add  a 
new  charm  to  the  landscape  upon  many  of  the  islands.  Amlrus 
alone  boasts  afresh  water  lake  and  a  few  small  out-flowing  fresh 
water  streams.  The  rocks  are  all  calcareous,  soft  and  easily 
worked  below  the  surface,  white  and  dazzling  when  first  quar- 


4^  ISLES  OP   SUMMER. 

ried,  but  they  acquire  a  flinty  luirdnoss  of  surface,  and  assume 
a  subdued  and  darker  shade  (an  ashen  gray)  when  exposed  to 
the  sun  and  air. 

The  Bermuda  Ishands  are  closely  allied  to  the  Bahamas,  having 
the  same  formation  and  being  surrounded  by  coral  reefs.  They 
are  situated  in  the  same  latitude  with  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  are 
seven  hundred  and  eighty  miles  distant  from  Cape  Ilatteras,  and 
seven  hundred  miles  south-east  of  New  York.  Science  has  dis- 
covered, and  historical  records  have  furnished  most  reliable  evi- 
dence, that  this  group  of  coral  islands,  since  their  first  discovery 
in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  centnry,  have  been  in  a  state 
of  subsidence,  so  that  they  are  noAv  far  less  extensive  than  they 
were  between  three  hundred  and  four  hundred  years  ago.  Prof. 
Dana  says  :  "  Twenty  miles  to  the  south-west  by  west  from  the 
Bermudas  there  are  two  submerged  banks,  twenty  to  forty-seven 
fathoms  nnder  water,  showing  that  the  Bermudas  are  not  com- 
pletely alone,  and  demonstrating  that  they  cover  a  summit  in  a 
range  of  heights  ;  and  it  may  have  been  a  long  range," 


.  CHAPTER  III. 

New  Providence.  Killarney  and  Ounningliam  Lakes.  Caves  and  Cave 
Earth.  The  Mermaid's  Pool.  Naxsau — its  Streets,  Public  and  Private  Build- 
ings, and  Population.  Tlie  Poor  and  Happy  Negroes.  Fort  FincastU  and 
its  Signals.  Oranfs  Toicn  and  other  Suburban  Villages.  Fort  Charlotte — • 
its  Subterranean  Rooms  and  Charming  Out-look.  Xiunching  at  the  Expense 
of  the  Britixh  Qu^en.  Removal  of  the  Old  Barracks.  Fort  Montague.  A 
Luxuriant  Growth  of  Titles.  JVassau  Harbor  and  its  Bar.  Observing  the 
Breakers.     Shells  and  SJiell-work.     Nassau's  Public  Library. 

"  This  sceptered  isle ; 
This  earth  of  majesty ;  tliis  seat  of  Mars  ; 
This  other  Edea — demi-paradise." — Shakespeare. 

"The  poor  contents  him  with  the  care  of  lieaven." — Pope. 

The  island  of  New  Providence,  although  small  in  size  and 
greatly  deficient  in  soil,  far  transcends  in  importance  all  the  is- 
lands with  which  it  is  more  immediately  associated.  Nassau, 
the  Bahama  capital,  reposes  in  calm,  quiet  dignity  upon  the 
northern  sloj^e  of  the  hill  that  rises  to  a  height  of  ninety  feet 
above  its  northern  shore,  bathes  its  feet  in  the  sheltered  sea,  and 
lifts  its  municipal  head  above  the  heights  that  overlook  Grant's 
Town.  It  is  to  the  entire  archipelago  what  Athens  was  to  Greece 
and  the  rising  sun  to  the  old  Persian  fire-worsliim)ers.  "  Paris 
is  France  ;" — Nassau  is  New  Providence  and  the  Bahamas.  But 
for  its  harbor  and  favoral)le  location,  it  never  would  have  risen 
from  the  rocks,  or  reposed  under  the  shadows  of  its  tropical  and 
semi-tropical  trees.     Its  superiority  as  a  shelter  for  ships,  caused 

43 


44  ISLES   OF   SFMIIES. 

it  to  become  for  these  islands  the  scat  and  focus  of  civil,  political, 
ecclesiastical,  and  military  power.  Without  its  geographical  and 
topographical  advantages,  it  is  not  probable  that  within  its  nar- 
row borders  a  Colonial  Governor  Avould  ever  have  had  his  resi- 
dence, an  Episcopal  Bishop  his  seat,  or  two  companies  of  her 
majesty's  colored  troops  their  barracks.  ISo  old  and  rusty  guns 
Avonld  have  given  to  the  crests  o±  its  hills  a  military  and  warlike 
aspect;  jurisprudence  would  have  soug.it  elsewhere  room  for  ner 
highest  courts,  and  no  colonial  representatives  or  lords  would 
have  occujDied  imported  hi£:h-baeked  chairs  in  its  legislative 
halls. 

New  ProYidencc  has  an  extreme  length  of  about  nineteen  and 
three-eights  miles  from  east  to  west;  an  extreme  width  of  about 
seven  miles  from  north  to  south;  an  average  width  of  about  five 
miles;  and  embraces  a  total  area  of  about  eighty-five  square 
miles.  From  the  north  shore  in  front  of  Nassau,  the  distance 
across  the  island  is  between  five  and  six  miles.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  a  very  few  square  miles  occui^ied  by  Nassau  and  its  sub- 
urbs, there  is  little  upon  the  island  except  water  and  wilderness; 
the  former  brackish,  and  throbbing  and  in  some  ^^laces  appear- 
ing and  disappearing  with  the  long  pulsations  of  the  sea's  diurnal 
tides,  and  the  latter,  to  a  large  extent,  a  dense  low  jungle,  with 
stretches  of  pitch  pine  forests  rising  from  a  thick  undergrowth 
of  scrub  palmettoes,  all  being  root-fastened  to  the  rocks  and  ap- 
parently living  like  Dr.  Tanner  during  his  recent  forty  days'  fast, 
exclusively  upon  air  and  water. 

The  western  extremity  of  New  Providence  is  called  Clifton 
Point,  and  its  eastern  extremity.  East  Point.  In  a  south-west- 
erly direction  from  Nassau,  at  a  distance  of  probably  seven  or 
eight  miles.  Lake  Killarney  is  situated — a  body  of  shallow,  brack- 
ish water  nearly  three  miles  in  length  from  east  to  west,  and 
about  two  and  three-fifth  miles  in  width  from  north  to  south. 


LAKES   AND    CAVES.  45 

The  Blue  Hill  range  is  about  seven  miles  long,  and  running  east 
and  Avest,  separates  this  lake  from  Lake  Cunningham— a  smaller 
body  of  shallow  water,  half  a  mile  Avidc,  and  two  and  two-thirds 
miles  in  length  from  east  to  west.  The  negro  drivers,  by  design 
or  ignorance,  palm  off  this  lake  upon  strangers  for  Killarney — it 
being  nearer  and  more  accessible  than  the  latter.  Cunningham, 
with  its  little  mangrove  islands,  is  well  worth  visiting,  and  the 
drive  for  a  mile  or  two  through  the  pine  woods  and  scrub  pal- 
mettoes,  rendered  necessary  to  reach  it,  gives  one  an  opportunity 
to  see  something  of  the  low,  wet,  rough,  and  rocky  make  up  of 
portions  of  the  island.  Wild  flowers  and  palmetto  leaves,  gath- 
ered by  the  wayside,  often  give  a  gay  and  festive  aijpearance  to 
the  vehicles  of  the  excursionists  upon  their  return  near  the 
close  of  day  or  in  the  edge  of  the  evening.  The  Blue  Hills 
attain  an  elevation  of  120  feet. 

Caves  exist  in  the  western  extremity  of  the  hill  that  separates 
the  two  lakes,  and  there  is  always  connected  with  caverns  in  the 
rocks  enough  of  the  weird  and  wild  and  mysterious  to  make  tliem 
objects  of  interest.  We  found  it  so  with  these.  Indeed  their 
proximity  to  a  sea  so  recently  infested  by  pirates,  and  their  loca- 
tion upon  an  island  not  very  long  ago  in  possession  of  a  now 
vanished  race  of  men,  suggest  many  a  question  wliicli  only  the 
dead  can  answer.  As  we  followed  our  dusky  guide  and  passed 
from  one  chamber  to  another  over  the  rocks,  disturbing  and 
driving  from  their  dark  retreats  the  bats,  it  was  not  difficult  to 
imagine  that  the  ghosts  of  the  cruel  and  reckless  buccaneers,  and 
the  shades  of  tlie  unfortunate  and  grossly  wronged  Indians, 
Avere  peering  at  us  in  the  darkness  and  gloom.  But  after 
l)uilding  a  fire  in  the  deepest,  darkest  and  most  dismal  chamber 
of  them  all,  which  was  entered  through  a  small  opening  in  a 
partition  of  rock,  we  experienced  a  feeling  of  relief,  knowing  that 
the  elfs  of  evil  vanish  with  the  li"ht. 


46  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

In  quite  a  number  of  instances  the  ceilings  of  the  rocky  cham- 
bers had  i^artially  fallen  in,  and,  through  the  openings,  the  roots 
of  wild  fig  trees  had  made  their  way,  dropped  from  ten  to  twenty 
feet  to  the  bottom,  where,  entwined  among  and  running  over  the 
rocks,  they  seemed  in  the  dim  light  like  huge  anacondas,  whose 
repose  it  might  be  dangerous  to  disturb. 

Catesby,  a  century  ago,  in  Avritiug  in  regard  to  the  natural 
history  of  the  Bahamas,  observed,  that  ''many  of  these  islands, 
particularly  Providence,  abound  Avith  deep  caverns  containing 
salt  water  at  their  bottoms.  These  pits,  being  perpendicular 
from  their  surface,  are  frequently  so  choked  up  and  obscured  by 
the  falling  of  trees  and  rubbish,  that  great  caution  is  required 
to  prevent  falling  into  these  '  unfathomable  pits'  as  the  inhabit- 
ants call  them,  and  it  is  thought  that  many  men  who  never 
returned  from  hunting  have  perished  in  them." 

"We  called  the  attention  of  an  intelligent  native  and  old  resi- 
dent of  Nassau  to  this  passage  and  he  assented  to  its  truth.  To 
this  day,  the  island,  though  so  small,  is  largely  an  unknown 
country  to  its  people.  This  seems  incredible,  but  it  is  none  the 
less  true.  Stimulated  by  a  crisp  and  frosty  air,  northern  people 
fit  out  exploring  expeditions  to  the  North  Pole  and  the  interior 
of  Africa;  but  the  citizens  of  Nassau  care  not  to  explore  the 
dense  jungles  that  exist  a  short  distance  from  their  doors. 

An  article  appeared  in  the  Nassau  Gazette  a  year  or  two  since 
in  which  a  correspondent  describes  a  natural  reservoir  of  fresh 
water  called  "The  Mermaid's  Pool,"  or  '*  The  Black  Water 
Pool,"  which  seems  to  resemble  the  deep  caverns  or  pits  to  which 
Catesby  refers,  except  that  it  is  filled  with  fresh  water.  This 
writer  states  that  it  is  located  in  the  south  part  of  the  island  of 
NcAV  Providence,  about  a  mile  from  the  shore,  near  an  extensive 
cocoanut  plantation,  then  belonging  to  the  Hon.  J.  S.  George, 
a  gentleman  who  is  since,  we  believe,  deceased.     "  It  is  in  a  rocky. 


THE   MEKM  aid's    POOL.       X  ASS  ATI.  47 

wooded  plain,  so  perfectly  level  that  it  would  be  diflScult  for  a 
rabbit  to  find  a  hillock  sufficiently  high  for  concealment."  It  is 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  diameter,  sixty-five  feet  in 
depth,  and  without  banks.  The  water  conies  "to  the  very  brim," 
and  it  has  "  a  depth  of  forty  feet  at  the  very  edge,  which  is  the 
more  remarkable  as  the  adjacent  sea  is  so  shallow  that  it  would 
be  necessary  to  go  five  miles  from  the  shore  or  six  miles  from  the 
pool,  before  a  depth  equal  to  that  of  the  pool  is  reached."  Al- 
though a  great  natural  curiosity,  and  but  a  few  miles  from  the 
city,  the  writer  says  "it  is  almost  unknown  to  the  people  of 
Nassau."  He  gives  the  substance  of  a  wild,  romantic  legend 
concerning  this  '"'  Mermaid's  Pool,"  in  which  a  dusky  island 
princess  and  a  foreign  shipwrecked  jDrince  act  prominent  parts. 
Strange  noises  are  heard  there  at  night,  and  in  the  form  of  a 
mermaid  the  princess  at  times  emerges  from  the  dark  pool  in  the 
dim  moonlight,  seizes  any  unfortunate  damsel  who  happens  to  be 
in  the  vicinity,  and  carries  her  a  prisoner  to  her  watery  home  in 
the  rock. 

The  Bahamas  yield  a  "cave  earth"  composed  of  phosphates 
of  lime  and  some  ammonia.  It  is  a  kind  of  guano,  and  has  suf- 
ficient value  as  a  fertilizer  to  cause  it  to  be  exported  to  other 
countries,  principally  to  the  United  States.  The  total  value  of 
this  guano  exported  has  often  been  about  $20,000  a  year,  at 
about  fifteen  dollars  a  ton.     It  is  not  used  in  the  colony. 

Nassau  is  situated  in  latitude  25°  51'  north,  and  longitude  77° 
21'  west.  The  rock  upon  which  it  is  situated  has  furnished  the 
materials  for  the  outer-walls  of  all  its  public  and  many  of  its 
private  buildings.  Nature  seems  to  have  had  regard  to  the  fact 
that  the  people  who  were  to  live  in  this  enervating  air  would 
never  voluntarily  quarry  granite  or  any  similar  stone,  and  there- 
fore she  has  provided  them  Avith  a  rock  that  is  soft  below  the 
surface  and  easily  worked,  but  hardens  when  exposed  to  the  air. 


48  ISLES   OF   SUMMEE. 

Many  gardens,  orchards,  and  ornamental  grounds  are  enclosed 
with  high  walls  made  of  this  rock.  These  walls  are  stuccoed, 
and  covered  on  top  with  fragments  of  glass  embedded  in  mortar, 
all  which  impresses  one  with  the  conviction  that  petty  larceny  is 
an  offence  not  unknown  upon  this  happy  and  innocent-looking 
isle. 

Very  many  of  the  houses  have  large,  heavy  blinds  on  the  sides 
exposed  to  the  street  and  the  sun,  Avhich  enclose  spacious  piazzas, 
and  thus  secure  cool  air  and  seclusion.  The  blinds,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  garden  walls,  give  them,  to  northern  eyes,  some- 
thing of  the  appearance  of  Turkish  harems,  and  the  imjiression 
is  deepened  by  the  additional  fact  that  one  seldom  gets  even  a 
glance  at  the  beautiful  ladies  who  are  sujiposed  to  occupy  these 
pleasant  homes. 

We  are  unable  to  give  accurately  the  population  of  Nassau. 
In  18G1,  the  population  of  the  Bahamas  Avas  35,287,  of  which 
number  11,503  were  upon  the  island  of  New  Providence,  and, 
according  to  Gov.  Eawson,  "of  these,  upwards  of  10,000  lived  in 
Nassau  and  its  suburbs;"  and  as  Grant's  town  and  Bain's  town, 
two  of  the  suburljs,  then  contained  a  population,  the  first  of 
2,308  and  the  second  of  1,315,  it  left  only  0,287  for  Nassau.  The 
population  of  the  Bahamas  in  1871,  according  to  Moseley's  Al- 
manac, was  30,102,  an  increase  of  a  little  less  than  4,000.  If 
we  allow  Nassau  and  its  sul)ui'bs  their  proportionate  share  of  this 
increase  (one-third)  and  add  an  equal  number  for  the  increase 
since  1871,  it  will  make  the  present  population  of  Nassau  and  its 
suburbs  between  12,000  and  12,700.  There  is,  however,  nothing 
to  indicate  that  there  has  been  much  addition  to  the  white  pop- 
ulation of  Nassau. 

Bay  street  monopolizes  nearly  all  the  business  of  the  city,  and 
is  its  principal  thorouglifare.  'It  skirts  the  harbor,  is  shaded  by 
rows  of  almond  trees,  stretches  east  and  west  for  several  miles 


l.noking  down  George  st.  from  the  Government  House.     Statue  of  Columbus 

in  tlie  foreground.     Tlie  Cathedral  on  tlie  right.     The  Vendue  House 

at  the  foot  of  the  street.     The  Harbor,  Barrier  Island, 

and  Oeean  north  of  the  city. 


beyond  the  limits  of  the  city,  and  is  made  lively  and  attractive 
by  trade  and  travel.  The  docks  and  landings,  the  public  market, 
the  stone  barracks  with  their  iron  framed  and  stone-paved  ver- 
andas, Fleming  Square  and  the  officers'  quarters,  the  airy  unin- 
closed  Vendue  House,  numerous  stores  and  dwellings,  a  few  small 
hotels  and  private  boarding  houses,  the  eastern  Parade  Ground, 
and  an  old  cemetery  still  further  to  the  east — all  give  tone,  char- 
acter and  importance  to  the  street,  and  confer  upon  it  a  very 
great  pre-eminence  over  all  the  other  streets  of  the  city. 

For  several  miles,  during  all  jiarts  of  the  day.  Bay  street  is 
thronged  with  people,  almost  exclusively  colored.  Many  of  them 
are  women  and  children,  merchants  in  a  very  small  way,  bearing 
their  stock  in  trade  upon  their  heads.  Idlers  abound.  No  one 
is  in  any  hurry.  "How  are  you  to-day,  massa  ?" — "God  bless 
you,  massa" — "Can't  you  give  me  a  penny,  boss?"  are  among 
the  common  salutations.  The  elderly  colored  women,  when  in- 
formed that  we  feel  pretty  well  to-day,  with  much  gravity  of 
look  and  a  devout  expression,  ejaculate  ""  Thank  God!"  and  pass 
along.  The  diminutive  black  vocalists  remember  our  interest  in 
their  sacred  songs,  and  have  another  song  which  they  are  anxious 
to  sing  to  us. 

Nothing  so  impressed  us  with  the  evident  poverty  of  the  colored 
people  of  Nassau  as  a  class,  and  of  the  difficulty  they  experience 
in  getting  a  good  and  honest  living,  as  the  large  number  of  colored 
women  and  children  to  be  constantly  seen  dui'ing  every  business 
day  upon  Bay  street  bearing  in  their  hands,  or,  (when  walking,) 
upon  their  heads,  their  little  stocks  in  trade — here  a  few  pennies 
worth  of  candy,  and  there  a  little  trifle  of  cake;  some  with  small 
quantities  of  peanuts,  and  others  having  small  supplies  of  flowers 
or  fruit — the  appearance  of  the  latter  often  suggesting  the 
thought  that  it  had  been  prematurely  picked  to  meet  wants  that 
were  pressing,  and  would  not  wait.     A  capital  of  twenty-five 

5 


50  ISLES   OF  SUMMER. 

cents  appeared  amply  sufficient  to  enable  most  of  these  street 
or  curb-stone  merchants  to  have  a  good  start  in  life.  The  good 
nature  and  generosity  of  the  colored  peojile  as  a  class  was 
very  marked.  They  freely  gave  to  each  other  from  their  lit- 
tle stores,  and  never  seemed  to  either  fret,  fume,  Avorry  or 
hurry.  Truly  1)le.<sed  are  these  destitute  children  of  the  sun, 
for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven — if  heaven  is  the  state  or 
condition  of  being  contented  and  happy — or  if  it  is  a  country 
Avhere  nothing  that  makes  a  man  rich  in  this  ever  enters.  It  is 
worth  a  journey  to  Nassau  to  learn  the  extent  of  man's  artificial 
wants. 

The  streets  of  Nassau  are  to  a  large  extent  made  in  and  u2)o)i 
the  surface  rock,  the  paving  having  been  previously  done  when  the 
shell  and  coral  sands  Avere  hardened  into  stone.  By  filling  up 
the  hollows  with  broken  stone,  the  roads  are  easily  kept  in  good 
repair,  as  the  rains  soon  dissolve  the  lime  in  the  rock  sufficiently 
to  form  a  cement  which  makes  all  comiiact  and  solid.  Prisoners 
in  small  scpiads,  ornamented  and  secured  by  chain  and  ball,  are 
daily  seen  Avorking  upon  the  roads — sitting  sometimes,  Avhile 
Avorking  with  their  hammers,  unshielded  from  the  hot  sun,  in 
the  dazzling  light  reflected  from  the  Avliite  surface,  Avhile  the 
thermometer  registers  from  1-40°  to  150°. 

Sherley  street  runs  next  south  of  and  parallel  Avith  Bay  street, 
and  is  the  second  street  in  extent  and  importance.  East  Hill 
street  runs  for  a  short  distance  back  (south)  of  the  Royal  Vic- 
toria Hotel.  A  fcAV  cross  streets  extend  southerly  from  Bay 
street — most  of  them  but  a  short  distance.  The  principal 
of  these  are  :  1st,  Market  street,  leading  to  Grant's  ToAvm,  the 
north  terminus  of  Avhich  is  at  the  City  Market;  2d,  George  street, 
which,  commencing  at  the  Vendtie  House,  passes  in  front  of  the 
"Cathedral"  or  Christ's  Church,  and  extends  to  the  foot  of  a 
long  flight  of  stei)s  leading  to  the  Government  House  or  residence 


Fort  Fincastle, 


rOKT  FINCASTLE — ITS  SIG]S"ALS.  51 

of  the  Governor  of  the  colony;  3d,  Frederick  street,  iijion  which 
is  the  "Wesleyan  Trinity  Church,  and  St.  Andrew's  Presbyterian 
Church;  ■ith.  Parliament  street,  on  the  east  side  of  which,  at  its 
northerly  terminus,  are  the  legislative  and  judicial  buildings, 
while  the  Victoria  Hotel  is  on  the  same  side  at  its  southerly  ter- 
minus; 5th,  East  street,  which,  passing  the  hotel,  leads  to  Fort 
Fincastle,  on  the  crest  of  the  hill. 

This  fort  commands  a  good  view  of  the  ocean  and  is  utilized 
as  a  signal  station.  Whenever  any  vessel  approaches  either  en- 
trance to  the  harbor  of  Nassau,  the  direction  from  which  it 
comes  and  its  character  are  indicated  by  flags  hoisted  upon  its 
flag  staff.  It  is  a  (pieer  looking  affair,  running  at  one  end  to  a 
l)oint,  and  looking  like  some  old  sharp-bowed  ante-diluvian 
water  craft,  ossified  and  turned  into  stone,  which  from  the  bot- 
tom of  the  sea  had  been  pushed  up  into  the  air  and  the  sun-light 
when  the  rock  upon  which  it  rests  was  elevated.  Little  negro 
cabins  cluster  around  and  cling  to  its  side  like  so  many  largo 
barnacles. 

SIGNALS   UPON   FORT   FINCASTLE. 

Flags  at  mast-head  denote  the  description  of  approaching  ves- 
sels. 

Small  quarler  flags  at  the^>o/y/^  of  tlie  yard  arm  indicate  the 
number  of  ai)])roaching  vessels.  Four  halyards  attached  to  the 
yard  arm  are  thus  used; — one  on  the  first  halyard  signifies  ofie 
vessel;  on  the  second,  two  vessels/  and  so  on. 

If  more  than  eight  vessels  are  approaching  from  one  quarter, 
i\\Q  fleet  flag  is  hoisted  at  the  mast-head,  and  the  (puirter  flags  at 
the  point  of  the  yard  arm. 

A  3Iail  Packet  Steamer  is  indicated  by  a  Red  Pendant  at  the 
yard  arm,  over  the  quarter  flag. 

When  the  mail  steamer  anchors,  a  Union  Jack  is  hoisted  on 


52  ISLES   OF  SIJMMEK. 

the  Public  Abutment;  when  the  mails  are  landed  it  is  hauled 
down. 

A  Red  Pendant  is  hoisted  at  the  mast-head  of  the  fort  when 
a  vessel  of  war  approaches;  and  should  the  Union  be  flying  from 
the  fort,  the  Ked  Pendant  is  hoisted  under  it. 

A  Large  Union  is  hoisted  on  Sundays,  all  public  days,  and 
whenever  the  royal  standard  is  unfurled  at  Governmeiit  House. 
It  is  kept  flying,  except  in  bad  weather,  from  eight  o'clock  A.  m. 
until  sunset. 

A  Small  Union  hoisted  at  mast-head  over  the  signal  which  de- 
notes tlie  description  of  the  vessel  approaching,  indicates  that 
tlie  Governor  is  on  board,  and  is  kept  flying  until  the  vessel  an- 
chors. His  excellency  is  evidently  the  Queen  Bee  of  the  little 
hive. 

MAST-HEAD    SIGNALS. 

Red  and  II Mow  (vertical  bars),  steamer. 
Red  a)td  tohite  cross,  brig. 
Red,  ship  or  barque. 
White  vnth  red  cross,  brigantine. 
Rlue  loith  ichite  cross,  fore  and  aft  schooner. 
Blue,  top-sail  schooner. 
Rlue  and  yellow  (horizontal),  fleet. 
White  and  blue  (horizontal),  distress. 

YARD   ARM    SIGNALS — (QUARTER   FLAGS.) 

Yellow,  west. 

Rlue  and  yellow  (vertical),  north-west. 
Rlue,  north. 

Rlue  and  red,  north-east. 
Red,  east. 
Very  near  to  its  north  wall  a  deep  cut  has  been  made  in  the 


SFBITKBAX   VILLAGES.  53 

rock  through  the  hill,  as  if  for  the  purpose  of  obstructing  by 
an  artificial  chasm  the  approach  to  the  fort  by  a  hostile  land 
force  from  the  north.  In  this  dee])  gorge  there  is  a  long  high 
flight  of  stone  steps,  which  are  dignified  by  the  name  of  ''The 
Queen's  Staircase."     It  is  an  interesting  spot  and  much  visited. 

Back  of  Nassau,  over  the  hill,  towards  the  west  is  Delancy's 
Town — a  suburb  of  the  city  occupied  by  colored  people  ;  Grant's 
Town  and  Baine's  Town  lie  also  back  of  the  city  below  and  beyond 
the  crest  of  the  hill,  but  are  further  to  the  east. 

These  suburban  villages  are  inhabited  largely  by  manumitted 
slaves  and  the  descendants  of  those  who  have  been  enfranchised. 
Some,  it  is  said,  still  use  their  native  African  dialects,  and  har- 
bor some  of  their  old  superstitions.  We  frequently  visited  these 
suburbs,  and  were  always  much  interested  in  their  teeming  popu- 
lation, huddled  together  around  their  humble  dwellings,  sit- 
ting upon  the  rocks,  or  leaning  upon  the  rude  division  and  front 
walls  of  their  village  lots.  With  no  corroding  cares,  no  trouble- 
some anxieties  about  to-morrow,  and  no  Avants  not  easily  supplied, 
they  seemed  more  to  be  envied  than  many  of  the  tired  toilers  in 
colder  climes.  Excepting  the  divers,  we  saw  none  of  the 
"  nearly  naked  negroes  "  that  others  have  described.  Once  while 
sailing  I)efore  a  good  breeze,  a  boat  passed  that  was  sculled  by  a 
small  boy,  whose  costume  consisted  only  of  a  shirt,  or,  as  a  lady 
very  forcibly  expressed  it,  "  two  sheets  in  the  wind,  or  one  flying." 
liis  diminutive  size,  ebony  complexion  and  comical  attitude, 
self-satisfied  air  and  ''  ascension  robe,"  contrasted  strikingly  with 
the  size  of  his  boat,  the  dignity  and  gravity  of  his  passengers, 
the  clear  and  exquisitely  beautiful  water,  and  the  green  back- 
ground of  Hog  Island,  Avhose  southern  shore  he  was  approaching. 
But  little  money  is,  however,  spent  for  dry  goods,  and  many  are 
barefooted,  while  the  poor  apologies  for  shoes  which  others  have, 
make  it  impossible  for  them  to  walk  except  with  a  noisy,  shuffling 


S4  ISL-ES   OF   Str:N[MElt. 

gait,  which  equally  grates  upon  the  ear  and  offends  the  eye  of 
people  from  the  States.  Those  whom  we  have  seen  Sundays 
have  been  well  and  neatly  hut  not  expensively  dressed. 

The  streets  of  these  suburbs  are  narrow  and  cross  each  other 
at  right  angles.  Building  lots  have  been  laid  out  upon  them, 
upon  which  there  is  usually  a  small  one-s-tory  house,  and  some- 
times two  or  more,  embowered  in  orange,  tamarind,  cocoanut, 
banana,  sapodilla  and  other  trees,  and  with  flowering  shrubs 
and  vines.  Here,  as  elsewhere  generally  upon  the  island,  so  far 
as  we  have  seen  it,  the  trees  rise  up  out  of  the  bare  and  naked 
rocks.  Gov.  Eawson  in  his  report  for  1864,  speaking  of  this 
locality,  says:  '' Fruit  trees  of  various  kinds  are  crowded  around 
the  dwellings  and  cottages,  growing  luxuriantly,  but  planted 
without  order,  unselectcd,  unpruned,  and  unimproved,  often 
finding  a  place  and  nourishment  for  their  roots  in  crannies  and 
fissures  in  the  rocks  into  which  it  would  appear  impossible  for 
them  to  penetrate." 

One  can  hardly  believe  his  own  eyes  in  looking  at  them.  Tlie 
plow  and  the  spade,  the  harrow  and  the  cultivator,  the  scythe 
and  the  reaper  would  be  as  much  out  of  place  here  as  snowballs 
in  a  baker's  oven.  The  only  implements  of  husbandry  that  can 
be  made  availaljle  are  the  pick  and  the  crowbar.  By  prying  up 
the  end  of  a  stone,  or  finding  a  crevice  or  making  one  in  the  rock, 
a  ]3lace  is  found  for  slip,  root,  or  seed,  and  when  thus  utilized, 
small  rootlets  start  out,  follow  all  the  minute  inequalities  of  the 
porous  limestone,  penetrate  all  the  little  j^ockets  in  the  rock,  run 
over  and  down  ledges  ten  to  twenty  feet  high,  searching  for  fis- 
sures and  crevices  in  the  hard  bottom  of  stone  below,  as  if  guided 
by  intelligence,  and  impelled  onward  by  a  strong  and  most  tena- 
cious love  of  life,  while,  at  the  same  time,  buds  and  twigs  and 
stems  and  branches  push  upwards,  enlarge  and  multiply,  draw- 
ing rich  supplies  of  food  from  a  hot  sun  that  warms  but  never 


<>RAKt's  TOWN".  55 

■wilts,  and  from  the  dews  and  sliowers  that  come  down  from 
heaven  for  their  snstenance,  nntil  a  dense  and  seemingly  impen- 
etrable forest,  fast  anchored  to  the  rocks,  and  a  wild  tangle  of 
vines  and  bnshes,  blnshing  with  flowers  that  perfume  the  air, 
cover  all  the  apparent  sterility  of  nature  Avith  a  beauty  whicli 
seems  like  childhood's  dreams  of  fairy  land. 

The  houses  of  the  negroes  are  built  mostly  of  wood,  but  some 
have  limestone  walls,  while  the  roofs  are  covered — some  witli 
shingles  and  others  with  a  thatching  of  palmetto  leaves.  It  is 
rare  to  see  a  house  with  glass  windows — board  shutters  take  the 
place  of  sashes,  and  fire-places  and  chimneys  are  unknown.  A 
little  fire  out  doors,  for  cooking,  made  of  dead  wood  gathered  in 
the  forest  or  thickets,  which  is  transported  in  little  bundles  uj)on 
the  heads  of  women  and  children,  is  all  that  is  required  in  this 
warm  climate.  The  walls  are  not  sheathed  or  plastered,  and  the 
furniture  of  the  houses  is  of  the  rudest  and  most  simple  kind. 
The  colored  people  in  the  day  time  live  out  of  doors  in  the  open 
air,  so  that  in  riding  through  these  suburbs,  the  whole  popula- 
tion comes  under  review.  Nobody  appears  to  be  at  work.  In 
sunshine  or  shadow,  having  nothing  and  wanting  nothing,  taking 
no  thought  for  to-morrow,  they  live  on  like  the  birds  from  day  to 
day,  not  needing  to  take  lessons  of  the  ant  nor  of  any  other  of 
the  world's  greedy  and  grasping  toilers.  All  are  merry,  light- 
hearted  and  joyous;  nobody  frets  or  scolds;  not  achikl  cries;  and 
the  dogs,  croucliing  beside  their  indolent  masters,  are  literally 
too  lazy  to  bark.  All  the  thieving  is  of  the  petty  kind — it  would 
be  too  much  like  work  to  plan  and  execute  robbery  on  a  largo 
scale — and  what  is  the  use  of  committing  burglaries  and  grand 
larcenies  when  a  little  sugar-cane  or  a  handful  of  fruit  lills  to 
overflowing  the  measure  of  their  wants!  There  are  no  trades- 
unions,  no  commercial  revulsions,  and  no  sti-ikes  for  higher 
wages.     No  heads  ache  from  the  pressing  weight  of  the  crowns 


66  ISLE?;   OF  SUMMER. 

they  wear,  and  no  brains  give  out  in  the  ceaseless  and  crazy 
struggles  for  wealth  and  power.  Voluptuous  idleness  is  the 
hapj^y  offspring  of  these  charming  isles  of  the  sea,  where  frosts 
are  unknown,  and  health  and  happiness  float  on  each  passing 
wave  of  the  soft,  perfumed  air. 

Some  of  the  military  officials  having  very  kindly  designated  a 
time  when  they  would  show  the  iuterior  of  Fort  Charlotte,  in- 
cluding its  extensive  subterranean  works,  to  some  of  the  hotel 
guests,  we  were  enabled  through  the  politeness  of  Edward  N. 
Shelton,  Esq.,  of  Derby,  Ct.,  to  participate  in  the  pleasure  of 
the  excursion. 

This  fort,  in  its  completed  form,  is  not  a  hundred  years  old, 
and  yet  neither  history  or  tradition  are  able  to  inform  us  positively 
when  or  oy  whom  its  foundations  were  laid.  Mr.  Charles  Mosely, 
an  old  resident  of  Nassau,  long  an  editor  and  publisher  of  one 
of  its  newspapers,  says  in  his  almanac:  "It  is  supposed  to  have 
been  begun  by  the  Spaniards.  It  was  finished  about  1790,  but 
the  information  regarding  its  history  is  very  meagre  and  incom- 
plete." Thus  the  same  air  that  stimulates  into  rapid  and  vigor- 
ous growth  the  vegetable  world,  operates  as  an  opiate  upon  ani- 
mal life,  puts  the  Genius  of  History  to  sleep,  and  makes  the 
Present  too  indolent  to  prepare  and  preserve  records  of  the  most 
important  passing  events. 

Fort  Charlotte  is  uj^on  the  summit  of  the  hill  upon  which 
Nassau,  in  a  state  of  semi-tropical  torpor,  reposes.  It  is  west  of 
the  city,  and  commands  the  principal  or  west  entrance  to  the 
harbor.  We  passed  a  small  open  shore  battery,  and,  ascending 
the  hill  by  a  winding  roadway,  soon  reached  and  crossed  a  draw- 
bridge over  a  dry  moat,  ascended  a  flight  of  steps  cut  in  the  rock 
within  the  fort's  walls,  to  the  high  rocky  table  within  the  ram- 
parts, where  we  found  our  military  escort  waiting  to  receive  and 
welcome  us.     We  felt  no  desire  to  enter  the  fort  as  prisoners  of 


FORT   CHARLOTTE.  57 

wai',  and  no  ambition  to  take  possession  of  it  for  and  in  the  name 
of  the  Great  Republic,  although,  if  somewhat  reduced  in  size, 
and  safely  floated  over  the  ocean,  it  might  add  a  pleasing  interest 
to  some  great  American  Museum  or  Inter-national  Exposition. 
We  were  well  satisfied  to  enter  it  as  willing  captives  of  British 
and  Bahama  hospitality. 

To  our  civilian  eyes  its  armament  did  not  appear  formidable. 
Its  old  and  rusty  ordinance  seemed  little  better  than  Quaker  guns. 
Ko  doubt,  however,  they  exert  as  salutary  a  moral  influence  upon 
Nassau's  suburban  colored  inhabitants  as  would  the  best  rifled 
and  breech-loading  peacemakers  of  modern  times. 

To  us  the  fort  had  a  special  value  by  reason  of  the  extensive 
and  picturesque  views  it  affords.  In  front,  and  far  away  to  the 
right  and  left,  were  the  strings  of  beaded  keys  with  which  the 
shores  of  New  Providence  are  exquisitely  jewelled.  Numberless 
I'ocks  and  reefs,  lying  in  ambush  in  the  shallows  of  the  sea,  were 
revealed  by  the  white,  foaming  breakers  that  dashed  over  them. 
The  iris  colored  and  ribboned  Avaters,  with  their  settings  of  islands 
and  keys,  constituted  a  lovely  sun  embroidered  border  for  the 
(lark,  deep  blue  dress  of  the  ocean,  which,  in  wide  and  waving 
folds,  brushed  against  the  sky.  Turning  to  the  opposite  side,  the 
contrast  was  most  striking.  The  hill  upon  which  we  stood. 
Prospect  Hill  to  the  right,  and  the  Blue  Hills  in  the  distance, 
are  densely  wooded  banks  and  water  sheds  of  a  Ioav,  wet  wilder- 
ness. We  were  very  near  to  a  colonial  capital  in  which  we  had 
witnessed,  in  rather  a  small  way,  .something  of  the  pride  and 
pomp  and  glory  of  this  world.  From  our  commanding  positions 
we  Avere  al)lc  to  observe  its  "  back  country,"  and  to  see  no  small 
portion  of  the  island,  yet  we  looked  in  vain  for  green  pastures 
and  flowery  meads,  for  villages  and  farm  houses,  for  orchards 
and  gardens.  The  glassy  surface  of  a  small,  salt  and  «iia]low 
lake  alone  broke  the  continuity  of  the  low,  thick,  im])cnctrable 


58  ISLES  or*  SUMMER. 

jungle.  There  was  much  to  please  the  eye,  but  not  a  little  of 
fche  beauty  was  eliminated  when  we  paused  to  muse  and  meditate. 

Before  we  had  an  opportunity  to  do  much  of  the  latter,  we 
were  invited  by  our  military  friends  to  explore  that  portion  of 
the  fort  which  exists  below  the  surface,  in  the  very  bowels  of  the 
limestone  hill.  Colored  subordinates  attended  with  lanterns, 
while  the  military  officials  devoted  themselves  to  their  guests, 
and,  with  a  gallantry  characteristic  of  military  men,  personally 
aided  the  ladies  in  treading  the  dark  and  dismal  corridors,  and 
exploring  the  windowless  rooms  which  have  been  excavated  in 
the  rock.  We  entered  the  mouth  of  a  small,  round,  deep  well 
hole,  and  descended  a  long  flight  of  spiral  stgfirs  cut  in  the  rock. 
We  traversed  slowly  and  carefully  in  the  darkness,  one  after  the 
other,  the  small  convolutions  of  this  long,  perpendicular,  immov- 
able, excavated  stone  cork-screw.  Our  memory  of  this  artificial 
military  cave  is  not  clear  cut.  It  partakes  somewhat  of  the  dark- 
ness of  the  caverns  we  explored.  The  rooms  and  corridors,  with 
their  sides,  and  floors,  and  ceilings  of  stone,  were  no  doubt  made 
after  some  deeply  cogitated  and  wise  plan,  but  the  most  we  rec- 
ollect is  that  they  were  dark  and  dismal  dungeons.  Here  and 
there  we  remember  to  have  seen  loop  holes,  through  which,  from 
safe  coverts,  musketeers  might  shoot  the  men  who  should  succeed 
in  scaling  the  walls. 

If  the  reader  desires,  in  a  cheap  and  comparatively  easy  way, 
to  experience  the  delightful  sensations  which  a  visit  to  Fort 
Charlotte's  subterranean  rooms  is  so  well  calculated  to  produce, 
he  has  only  to  go  into  some  largo  deep  cellar  and  follow  a  negro 
with  a  lantern  for  half  an  hour  in  the  darkness,  and  his  curiosity, 
if  he  is  a  reasonable  man,  will  be  fully  gratified. 

Not  far  from  our  first  landing  place  at  the  foot  of  the  spiral 
stairs,  we  remember  endeavoring  to  peer  into  the  darkness  of  a 
well  hole  in  the  rock  which  had  been  sunk  to  the  foundations  of 


ME  queen's  chamber.  50 

the  hill,  and  to  have  drank  some  cool  and  pleasant-tasted  water 
which  was  drawn  from  it. 

Nor  would  we  if  we  could  forget  "The  Queen's  Chamber," 
where,  for  the  first  time  in  our  lives,  we  ate  and  drank  at  the 
expense  of  the  British  Government.  With  cheese  and  crackers 
and  wine,  the  darkness  was  in  a  measure  dispelled,  and  the  re- 
presentatives of  the  old  and  new  Avorlds  there  assembled,  in  those 
artificial  Bahama  caverns,  drove  a  few  nails  into  the  great  inter- 
national Platform  of  Peace. 

After  drinking  to  the  health  of  tlic  British  Queen,  and  to  the 
prosperity  and  speedy  and  rapid  promotion  of  the  military  gen- 
tlemen Avho  had  so  kindly  given  us  their  time  and  attention,  we 
ascended  into  the  sunlight,  and  soon,  resuming  our  carriages, 
returned  to  our  hotel. 

The  military  barracks  formerly  occupied  at  Nassau  an  eleva- 
ted position  on  the  grounds  of  Fort  Charlotte.  They  were  com- 
menced in  1700,  and  finished  in  1794,  and  cost  the  home  govern- 
ment about  1150,000.  After  being  used  for  between  forty  and 
fifty  years,  they  were  condemned  as  unhealthy,  and  taken  down. 
An  obelisque  has  been  erected  upon  their  site,  which  is  utilized 
as  a  land-mark  by  vessels  entering  the  harl)or.  Some  of  the 
Nassau  people,  we  were  told,  claim  that  this  removal  was  accom- 
plished under  a  false  pretext;  that  it  was  ''a  put  up  job;"'  that 
the  military  oflicers  desired  to  be  nearer  to  Nassau  wliile  doomed 
upon  the  island  of  New  Providence  to  play  the  part  of  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  at  St.  Helena.  The  sickness  complained  of  they 
allege,  was  caused  by  imprudence;  some  of  the  soldiers,  after 
spending  an  evening  in  the  city,  were  too  heavily  loaded  with 
liquor  to  get  back  to  their  barracks  without  lying  down  to  rest 
and  sleep  in  the  damp  night  air.  Hence  the  fevers  from  which 
they  suffered.  But  as  the  prevailing  winds  swept  over  the  low 
wet  lands  of  the  island  before  they  reached  the  old  barracks,  it 


60  ISLEf^   OF   StMMER. 

is  quite  probable  that,  at  least  rlnring  the  wet  rainy  season,  they 
were  unhealthy. 

Little  Fort  Montague  has  been  keej^ing  watch  and  guard  at 
the  eastern  entrance  of  Nassaii  harbor  for  a  little  less  than  a 
century  and  a-half.  It  was  finished  in  1742.  Lieut.  Bruce, 
who  planned  it,  and  superintended  its  construction,  had  suffi- 
cient skill  as  an  engineer,  and  talent  as  an  author,  to  ensure  its 
transmission  to  our  own  times  doubly  preserved.  Its  walls  re- 
main intact,  and  the  pen  of  its  engineer  secured  for  it  an  abiding 
l^lace  in  letters. 

It  is  only  as  a  relict  and  reminder  of  the  liy-gones  that  it  has  a 
present  value.  It  is  not  garrisoned,  but  its  old  and  rusty  guns, 
in  appearance  at  least,  continue  to  guard  Nassau's  back  door. 
Although  we  never  entered  its  walls,  it  always  calls  up  pleasant 
memories,  as  we  often  passed  near  it  during  the  forenoon  sails 
and  afternoon  rides  that  did  so  much  to  fill  our  cup  of  pleasure 
at  Nassau. 

The  Governor  of  these  islands,  while  we  were  in  Nassau,  sent 
a  written  message  to  the  Bahama  legislative  assembly,  signed  by 
himself,  in  which  he  asked  for  an  appropriation  of  £50  (about 
two  hundred  dollars)  to  "  His  Excellency  in  Council,  to  cause  to 
l)e  collected  and  printed  the  judicial  decisions  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  this  colony  during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century. "  Does 
this  not  indicate  a  great  amount  of  legal  business  ?  What  an 
opening  exists  in  this  extensive  group  of  islands,  keys,  rocks, 
and  banks  for  young  and  aspiring  members  of  the  legal  pro- 
fession! Only  £50  wanted  to  collect  and  print  all  the  deci- 
sions of  all  the  Bahama  Superior  Courts  for  twenty-five  years! 
And  two  dollars  will  purcluise  sugar  cane  enough  to  support  a 
man  and  keep  him  fat  and  healthy  for  three  months.  Observe 
also  how  the  Governor  regards  the  maxim  that  "A  man  cannot 
expect  others  to  think  any  better  of  him  than  he  thinks  of  him- 


LtTXURIAKT  GROWTH  OV  TITLES.  01 

self," — and  styles  himself  "His  Excellencyl"  The  more  we 
study  the  royal  institutions  of  the  Bahamas,  the  more  satisfied 
we  become  that  our  boasted  re2)nblic  is  a  failure,  popular  gov- 
ernments a  mistake,  and  that  it  is  about  time  to  give  some  of 
our  most  skillful  artists  a  liberal  order  for  crowns,  scepters, 
thrones,  and  all  the  gilded  trappings  necessary  to  set  u])  one  of 
those  lofty  imperial  governments  wliich  are  "ordained  of  God." 
Perhaps  it  mav  be  well  to  start  one  first  upon  the  "  Thimble 
Islands,*"^  that  our  people  may  see  with  their  own  eyes  how  beauti- 
fully tho  thing  works. 

In  a  newspaper  which  is  issued  there  semi-weekly,  entitled 
"The  Nassau  Guardian,-''  &c.,  we  find  under  date  of  February 
24th,  1879,  a  letter  of  welcome  to  the  newly  elected  Bishop  of 
the  diocese  from  the  rector,  Avardens  and  vestry  of  a  church  up- 
on Harbour  Island  (one  of  the  Bahamas)  upon  his  first  visit  to 
that  island,  and  the  bishop's  reply.  The  correspondence  has  no 
particular  interest  to  the  outside  world  except  as  it  shows  how 
great,  windy  titles  thrive  wlien  transplanted  upon  these  wonder- 
fully productive  calcareous  rocks.  The  Harbour  Island  church 
officials  addressed  tliis  successor  of  poor  and  humble  apostles  as 
follows: 

"Tlie  Right  Reverend  Dr.  Francis  A.  Cranmer-Roberts,  Lord  Risliop  of 
Nassau,  Reverend  Father  in  God." 

The  Bisho})  in  his  reply  concluded  as  follows; 

"Believe  me  to  remain, 

"Your  affectionate  Father  in  God, 

"  Fhanois-Na.ssatt." 

Kow  if  these  little  rocky  isles  of  the  ocean  can  sport  "  Fathers 
in  God,"  "Lord  Bishops,"  and  other  high  ecclesiastical  digni- 

6 


62  ISLES  OV  SUMMER. 

taries,  in  addition  to  a  Governor  and  lords  temporal  enough  to 
stock  a  great  empire,  isn't  it  about  time  for  the  people  of  the 
states  to  wake  up  and  do  something?  Haven't  we  all  the  materials 
necessary  for  the  manufacture  of  whole  regiments  of  "lords 
temporal"  and  '^Fathers  in  God,"  and  why  shouldn't  we  have 
our  share? 

Nassau  harbor  is  about  one  and  one-half  miles  long,  and  two- 
fifths  of  a  mile  wide.  Potter's  Key  runs  mid-way  down  the  har- 
bor from  the  east,  and  separates  the  eastern  half  into  two  parts. 
The  quays  and  landing  j)laces  are  on  the  south  side  of  the 
harbor,  opposite  the  east  end  of  Hog  Island.  The  shipping 
occupy  the  south  side  of  the  channel,  Avhich  is  separated  from 
the  north  side  by  a  bank  liaving  fifteen  feet  of  water.  The 
ordinary  tides  rise  from  two  to  three  feet.  It  is  not  generally 
practicable  for  vessels  to  enter  tlie  harl)or  from  the  cast  which 
draw  over  nine  feet  of  Avatcr. 

Old  wrecks  and  storm-worn  and  condemned  vessels  aljound, 
and  suggest  to  a  stranger  Nassau's  im]iortancc  as  a  seaport.  Her 
back  door  is  open  only  to  small  vessels,  while  her  front  door  is 
barred. 

That  the  bar  at  the  main  entrance  to  Nassau  harbor  is  often 
a  very  serious  obstruction  to  navigation,  is  evident  from  the  fact 
that  the  authorities  have  established  the  following  bar  signals: 

"  If  the  harl)or  is  approached  with  a  northerly  wind,  and  tliere 
is  an  uncertainty  as  to  tlie  state  of  tlie  bar,  should  it  be  danger- 
ous to  cross,  a  red  flag  will  be  hoisted  on  the  signal  staff  near  the 
lighthouse.  *  *  Should  it  be  possible,  but  too  dangerous  to 
get  out,  a  white  flag  will  be  hoisted,  and  the  pilot-boat  will  be 
seen  in  waiting  just  within  the  breakers,  showing  a  flag  red  and 
Avhite  horizontally,"  &c. 

The  Governor  in  his  report  for  1878,  stated  that  in  September 
of  that  year,  for  six  successive  days,  no  vessel  was  able  to  cross 


THE  HARBOR  AKD  BAR.  63 

the  bar,  on  account  of  the  disturbed  state  of  the  water,  caused 
by  the  high  winds  and  storms  Avhich  had  prevailed  outside.  Also 
that  the  harbor  had  not  before  been  thus  closed  for  so  long  a 
period  within  the  memory  of  the  oldest  inhal:)itants.  One  can 
easily  understand  the  danger  of  crossing  at  such  times  Avho  has 
watched  the  high  breakers,  Avith  foaming  crests,  leap  along  the 
bar  from  the  back  of  Hog  Island.  It  is  often  a  pleasant  and  ex- 
citing pastime  to  approach  this  bar  in  a  yacht,  and  watch  the 
high  waves  as  they  approach,  getting  near  enough  to  them  to 
realize  their  power,  and  be  baptised  in  their  spray.  How  grandly 
they  approach,  with  their  high  and  foaming  crests,  ''white  as 
carded  wool,"  or  an  Alpine  torrenti  The  waves  seem  marshalled 
for  the  onset.  Like  the  measured  tread  of  an  army,  they  roll  in 
upon  the  honey-combed  and  trembling  isle  at  short  and  regular 
intervals.  Here  and  there  a  daring  column  of  assault  leaps  over 
a  depression  in  the  rocks,  but  the  main  body,  baffled  in  its  pur- 
pose, rolls  and  foams  along  the  rocky  rim  of  the  shore,  envelopes 
the  lighthouse  in  a  mantle  of  spray,  traverses  the  Avhole  length 
of  Nassau  bar,  and  sjiends  itself  at  last  upon  the  white  shoi-e  of 
Silver  Key.  Like  the  heavy  roll  of  distant  thunder,  but  with 
more  exultant  tones,  loud  voices  from  the  troubled  ocean  mingle 
with  the  hoarser  and  louder  reverberations  that  arise  from  the 
long  line  where  sea  and  shore  meet  and  struggle  for  the  mastery. 
Following  the  first  great  breaker  there  is  always  a  second,  which 
in  turn  is  succeeded  by  a  third,  at  slioi-t  and  regular  intervals. 
All  travel  the  same  path,  and,  Jike  swift  moving  snow-clad  rail- 
road trains,  glide  rapidly  across  the  bar.  It  was  easy  to  believe 
them  strange  monsters  of  the  sea,  they  sampled  so  well  its  mys- 
tery and  poAver. 

A  short  lull  occurs  after  the  third  breaker,  of  sufficient  lengtlv 
to  enable  waiting  vessels  to  cross  the  bar.  This  novel  race  by 
high  mettled,  spray-enveloped  ocean  steeds,  Avith  their  long  white 


64  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

foaming  trains,  always  secures  a  higli  degree  of  jjleasurable  ex- 
citement. We  always  welcomed  the  showers  of  glistening  pearls 
that  on  such  occasions  greeted,  enveloped  and  followed  us,  as  a 
holy  baptism  from  Neptune's  sacred  l)ut  unseen  altars. 

The  inscription  upon  a  coraline  monument  which  occupies  a 
conspicuous  position  iipon  the  sea  bank  opposite  the  western  or 
main  entrance  to  the  harbor,  is  strongly  suggestive  of  the  danger 
Avhich  attends  the  crossing  of  the  bar  on  some  occasions.  Below 
the  names  of  five  men  is  the  following  testimonial. 

''Who  perished  on  the  bar  of  Nassau  harbor,  February  2Gth, 
1861,  while  gallantly  volunteering  their  services  in  the  effort  to 
save  two  men  belonging  to  the  pilot  boat,  which  had  been  upset 
by  a  heavy  sea.  This  monument  is  erected  ]jy  the  legislature  of 
the  Bahamas,  to  commemorate  their  gallant  conduct  and  self- 
sacrificing  heroism.'' 

Thus  does  this  monumental  stone  serve  a  double  purpose.  It 
honors  not  only  the  dead  but  the  living,  for  the  men  who,  in 
this  substantial  manner,  recognized  the  nol)le  virtues  that  ani- 
mated and  inspired  these  obscure  heroes  in  humble  life,  and  thus 
caused  them  to  inculcate  a  lesson  of  selt-sacrifice  to  every  passer 
by,  at  the  same  time,  all  unconsciously,  provided  immemorial  of 
their  own  justice,  goodness  and  practic.il  wisdom. 

On  the  first  day  of  March,  1870,  aided  by  a  good  glass,  we 
witnessed  a  grand  and  extensive  display  of  In'cakers  from  the 
cupola  of  the  Victoria  Hotel.  The  reefs,  rocks,  shoals,  and  out- 
lying keys  were  all  marked  and  enlivened  with  the  constant  dash 
and  play  of  the  foaming  breakers.  The  plucky  resistance  of 
Hog  Island  to  the  angry  and  impetuous  assaults  of  the  sea,,  chal- 
lenged our  admiration.  The  light  house,  which  rises  from  that 
island's  eastern  terminus,  a  spindle  of  limestone  sixt3^-eight  feet 
high,  had  its  top  obscured  with  the  spray  of  high  breakers  that 
threatened  to  sweep  it  into  the  sea.     We  could  not  but  muse  and 


THE   BREAKERS.      SHELLS   AND   snELL--^ORK.  65 

meditate  upon  the  question  of  its  desirableness  as  a  summer  resi- 
dence, with  a  cyclone  outside  traveling  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred 
miles  an  hour.     For  we  well  knew  that  at  times,  not  only 

"  The  startled  waves  leap  over  it ;  the  storm 
Smites  it  with  all  the  scourges  of  the  rain, 
But  steadily  against  its  solid  form 
Press  the  great  shoulders  of  the  hurricane." 

As  we  saw  it  on  that  occasion,  we  realized  more  than  ever  be- 
fore its  great  importance,  and  the  l)cneficence  of  its  mission. 
We  seemed  to  hear  its  hopeful  and  inspiring  voice  above  the  roar 
of  the  angry  breakers. 

"  'Sail  on!'  it  said,  'sail  on,  ye  stately  ships,' 

And  with  your  floating  bridge  the  ocean  span, 
Be  mine  to  guard  this  light  from  all  eclipse, 
Be  yours  to  bring  man  nearer  unto  man!" 

The  Bahamas  offer  special  attractions  to  the  conchologist. 
Their  waters  abound  with  a  great  variety  of  liandsome  shell-fish, 
and  the  shells,  prof  usely  scattered  along  the  shores  of  the  islands 
and  keys,  as  the  tides  ebb,  are  exquisitely  beautiful  in  form  and 
color.  They  are  mostly  small,  and  so  delicate  and  varied  that 
with  them  the  natives  have  long  been  accustomed  to  make  vari- 
ous articles  for  the  adornment  of  persons  and  parlors.  They 
display  much  ingenuity  and  taste,  and  are  said  to  be,  if  not  su- 
perior, at  least  unsurpassed  in  this  department  of  indnstrial 
esthetics.  Some  of  the  products  of  their  skill,  as  well  as  shells 
that  have  been  simply  gathered  from  the  beach  and  cured,  are 
most  always  to  be  found  for  sale  in  the  court  of  the  hotel.  Also 
delicate  ornaments  ingeniously  made  from  the  small  scales  of 
fish. 

In  this  connection,  the  conchs  deserve  special  notice,  as  in  the 


66  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

past  they  furnished  to  the  natives  a  most  important  article  of 
diet,  while  the  conch  shells  have  been  in  demand  in  other  coun- 
tries for  their  beauty,  and  have  also  to  a  considerable  extent, 
been  utilized  m  the  manufacture  of  various  articles  of  personal 
adornment.  The  conch  ako  often  secretes  a  pearl  of  considerable 
value.  The  exportation  of  conch  shells  for  five  years,  from  1856 
to  1800  inclusive,  aggregated  $T5,230,  and  for  the  next  four 
years,  (during  the  war  of  the  rebellion),  only  115,445.  In  the 
Governor's  report  for  1878  no  mention  is  made  of  this  item  of 
trade,  and  I  infer  the  value  of  conclis  exported  that  year  must 
have  been  very  small.  The  conch  is  obtained  by  diving,  and 
sometimes  has  been  found  in  very  extensive  beds.  This  may  be 
inferred  from  a  passage  on  page  204  of  McKinnen's  Tour,  A.  D. 
1803,  in  which  he  says — that  the  day  after  they  jjassed  Exuma, 
they  "steered  towards  a  passage  named  Conch  Cut,  from  a  pro- 
digious quantity  of  conch  shells  Avhicli  have  been  rolled  from  the 
[Great  Bahama]  bank  or  adjoining  shores,  and  thrown  together 
near  this  narrow  pass."  At  the  time  of  the  American  revolution 
jf  1770,  the  Bahama  people  relied  far  more  upon  the  water  than 
the  land  for  their  support.  Its  fruitage  of  fish  and  wrecks  never 
failed.  They  had  no  more  occasion  than  the  birds  to  sow  and 
reap.  At  tlrat  time  they  acquired  the  sobriquet  of  Conchs. 
A  writer  from  t*lie  Bahamas  in  1824,  states-  that  many  persons 
of  the  highest  respectability  were  then  distinguished  by  that 
name,  and  that  they  appeared  to  be  not  very  proud  of  it, — whicli 
is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  as  one  might  be  expected  to  be  equally 
pleased  to  be  called  an  oyster  or  a  clam.  The  wreckers  of  Key 
West,  Fla.,  whose  ancestors  came  from  the  Bahamas,  are,weare 
informed  by  an  old  sea  captain,  to  this  day  also  called  conchs. 
The  surfaces  of  the  inner  spiral  convolutions  of  the  shell  of  the 
conch  are  highly  polished,  and  have  a  most  beautiful  pink  color, 
which  suggested  to  our  mind  the  inquiry  whether  the  living  oc- 


Nassau's  public  library.  6? 

cnpant  of  this  little  but  exquisitely  furnished  tenement  is  itself 
conscious  of  the  gracefulness  and  beauty  of  the  inner  chambers 
of  the  house  it  occupies  upon  the  submerged  shelf  of  the  ocean. 
It  was  a  very  pleasant  surprise  to  find  at  Nassau  a  well  selected 
Public  Library  of  over  seven  thousand  volumes.  It  does  much 
credit  to  the  government  which  established  and  sustains  it,  and 
evidences  wise  statesmanship.  Some  of  the  other  islands  it  is 
said,  are  similarly  favored.  A  person,  entitled  to  draw  books,  is 
permitted  to  take  out  five  volumes  at  a  time — a  very  liberal  num- 
ber, and  probably  more  than  could  bo  allowed  if  its  patrons  were 
more  numerous.  Isolated  as  New  Providence  is  from  the  great 
world  beyond  the  sea,  the  stranger,  with  the  works  of  his  favorite 
authors  before  him,  is  lonely  no  more.  He  is  in  the  midst  of  a 
congenial  world — tlie  great  world  of  letters — and  no  longer  a 
stranger  in  a  strange  land.  His  mind  is  enriched  and  seeded 
with  the  great  thoughts  of  tlie  world's  greatest  tliinkcrs,  present 
and  past.  Philosophers  unlock  the  secrets  of  nature,  and  spread 
lier  most  profound  and  subtle  laws  at  his  feet.  Romance  lays 
l)aro  for  him  the  mysteries  (to  some  extent  distorted  and  too 
higlily  colored)  of  the  human  heart,  and  the  lights  and  shadows 
of  all  phases  of  human  life.  History,  with  graphic  pen,  dipped 
alike  in  truth  and  fable,  portrays  the  rise,  the  decadence,  and 
ilie  fall  of  states  and  empires,  and  points  out  tlie  deep-seated 
causes  tliatmake  and  ruin  nations.  Divines  cluster  around  liim, 
and,  wliile  some  for  a  greater  or  less  fee  permit  him  to  look 
tlirough  their  little  pieces  of  smoked  glass  at  the  invisible  world, 
others,  with  lips  hallowed  with  celestial  fire  from  God's  own 
altar,  discourse  eloquently  upon  the  mysteries  of  life,  deatli  and 
immortality.  While  the  poet,  in  soothing  num])ers,  sings  in- 
spired songs,  conducts  him  on  fancy's  wings  through  all  space, 
and  opens  for  liim  alike  grim  purgatorial  doors  and  the  golden 
gatts  of  the  celestial  city. 


68  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

Even  in  the  drowsy  air  of  the  Bahamas  a  studious  man  is  not 
satisfied  or  happy  if  withdrawn  entirely  from  the  world  of  letters. 
He  must  wander  at  will  in  what  to  him  is  the  very  garden  of  the 
gods — those  literary  fields  where  is  found  the  choicest  fruitage 
of  the  most  gifted  and  cultivated  minds.  In  the  mild  climate  of 
Italy,  the  great  Cicero  found  coveted  rest  and  repose,  not  in  list- 
less idleness,  but  in  a  change  of  literary  work.  Mind,  equally 
with  muscle,  is  toned  up  and  strengthened  by  exercise,  and  soft- 
ens in  voluptuous  repose.  The  tired  intellectual  worker  who 
seeks  in  Nassau  rest,  may,  therefore,  in  moderation  avail  himself 
of  the  benefits  of  its  library.  "With  leisure  and  a  library,  his 
mind  will  not  become  flabby  while  his  body  grows  fat. 

The  building  used  for  a  library  is  of  octagon  form,  built  of 
stone,  and  was  formerly  a  prison.  Each  of  :ts  eight  alcoves  has 
a  window,  so  that  it  is  well  supplied  witli  light  and  air.  Con- 
nected with  the  library  there  is  a  newspaper  and  magazine  de- 
partment, which  adds  materially  to  its  value.  A  beginning  (a 
small  nest  egg)  has  also  been  made  for  a  museum  of  natural 
history. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Royal  Victoria  Hotel.     Scenes  daily  witnessed  in  its  Court.     Sacred 
Songs  of  the  Negroes. 

"  Whoe'er  has  traveled  life's  dull  round, 
Where'er  his  stages  may  have  been, 
May  sigh  to  think  he  still  has  found 
The  warmest  welcome  at  an  mn." — Shenstone. 

The  words  above  quoted  need  to  be  qualified,  for  a  landlord's 
welcome  is  i)urchased  by  his  guest's  money,  and.  disappears  the 
moment  tiiat  gives  out.  The  destitute  traveler  is  not  presumed 
to  be  a  disguised  angel,  and  the  doors  of  few  public  or  private 
houses  swing  open  at  his  approach,  except  for  the  purpose  of 
lotting  the  dogs  loose  on  him.  Hotels  are  not  kept  for  tramps, 
and  the  latter  receive  but  a  cold  welcome  even  in  jioor  houses 
which  the  public  maintain  in  part  for  their  benefit. 

We  were  much  pleased  with  the  Royal  Victoria  Hotel,  and  re- 
ceived, many  little  attentions  and  kindnesses  at  the  hands  of  its 
proprietor,  (Mr.  J.  M.  Morton),  which  it  is  a  pleasure  to  ac- 
knowledge, but  the  visitors  from  the  states  must  remember  that 
Nassau's  jnstly  celebrated  hostelry  is  conducted  on  business  prin- 
ciples, and  that  plenty  of  money  or  a  good  letter  of  credit  is  an 
essential  requisite  of  '•the  warmest  welcome"  of  which  the  poet 
Shenstone  sung. 

In  a  subsequent  cliaj)ter,  reference  is  made  to  the  object  for 
which  this  hotel  was  built  by  the  Bahama  government,  and  to 
the  important  part  it  played  in  the  blockade  running  business 


70  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

during  the  late  American  war.  It  is  so  essential  to  the  health 
and  comfort  of  invalids  and  tourists  visiting  Nassau,  that  we  add 
such  other  facts  concerning  it  as  strangers  proposing  to  visit  the 
place  will  naturally  desire  to  know. 

This  hotel  stands  upon  high  ground,  a  little  below  the  crest  of 
tlie  hill  upon  which  Nassau  is  built.  Three-fourtlis  of  the  square 
enclosed  by  Shcrley,  East,  East  Hill,  and  Parliament  streets,  is 
occupied  as  a  site  for  the  hotel  and  for  hotel  purposes.  It  faces 
the  north,  and  commands,  from  all  its  front  windows  and  piazzas, 
a  very  fine  view  of  the  harlwr,  its  sheltering  island,  some  neigli- 
boring  keys,  and  the  out-lying  ocean.  It  overlooks  the  judicial, 
legislative  and  library  buildings,  and  many  jn-ivate  buildings 
Avith  their  embowering  trees.  Its  elevation  and  exposure  to  the 
full  force  of  the  2)revailing  winds,  secures  for  it  the  full  benefit 
of  those  from  tlie  ocean,  which,  freighted  with  refreshment  and 
health,  seldom  cease  to  blow. 

The  hotel  proper  is  two  hundred  feet  in  length,  four  stories 
high,  and  is  well  and  substantially  built  of  coralline  lime- 
stone, and  is  surmounted  by  an  observatory  which  commands 
a  very  extensive  and  fine  view.  Piazzas  ten  feet  Avide  surround 
each  of  the  three  upper  stories,  upon  Avhicli  the  windows,  gen- 
erally reaching  to  the  floor,  open;  thus  furnishing  convenient 
places  for  2)romenades  and  sittings  in  the  outside  air,  though 
interfering  somewhat  at  times,  with  tlie  much  to  be  desired 
quiet  and  privacy  of  the  adjacent  rooms.  Projecting  from 
the  center  of  the  building,  directly  over  and  of  the  same  size 
Avitli  the  mam  parlor,  there  is  a  piazza  in  the  third  story,  open 
on  the  east,  north  and  south  sides,  Avhich  affords  an  extensive 
vicAV  greatly  diversified  and  cliarmingly  beautiful.  Spacious 
halls  extend  through  the  center  of  each  story  of  the  long  build- 
ing, with  tiers  of  rooms  upon  each  side.  The  old  King's  College 
School  building  constitutes  a  part  of  the  hotel.     It  is  in  a  line 


THE    ROYAL   VICTORIA   HOTEL.  71 

with  the  new  hotel  building,  and  is  connected  with  it  by  large 
heavy  blinds.  It  has  stone  stuccoed  columns  in  front,  its  prin- 
cipal rooms  are  large  and  well  lighted,  and  admit  of  more  privacy 
and  quiet  than  most  of  the  rooms  in  the  new  building.  The 
dining  room  occupies  all  of  the  first  iloor  north  of  the  central 
portion  of  the  hotel,  and  large  windows  surround  it  upon  three 
sides.  It  has  three  tiers  of  tables,  and  is  nnusually  light,  airy 
and  i^leasant.  A  refreshing  sea-breeze  seldom  failed  to  make  it 
agreeably  cool  in  the  middle  of  the  hottest  days,  and  in  no  in- 
stance while  we  Avere  there  was  it  at  night  too  cool  or  hot  for 
comfort.  Hotel  parties,  and  occasional  evening  entertainments 
were  given  in  the  dining  room,  and  when  its  walls  were  adorned 
with  palmetto  leaves,  and  decorated  with  English  and  American 
Hags,  it  did  not  need  the  gay  dance,  sweet  music  and  the  land- 
lord's generous  and  bountiful  entertainment  to  make  it  attractive 
even  to  the  mere  looker-on. 

The  parlors  are  smaller  than  those  of  large  hotels  at  the  north, 
but  the  climate  is  so  mild  the  parlors  are  less  frequented. 

The  hotel  is  neatly  furnished  and  Avell  ke2)t.  The  meats, 
many  canned  vegetables,  and  the  smaller  fruits  and  other  sup- 
plies for  the  establishment,  are  imported  from  New  York.  Packed 
in  ice,  in  large  refrigerators,  every  steamer  brings  large  additions 
to  the  landlord's  stores.  A  very  superior  class  of  colored  waiters, 
uncommonly  intelligent,  and  etlicient,  materially  add  to  the  com- 
fort and  happiness  of  the  guests.  A  gentleman  well  qualified  to 
judge  in  such  matters  expressed  to  ns  the  opinion,  founded  on 
his  personal  knowledge,  that  there  is  no  hotel  in  the  West  In- 
dies equal  to  the  Victoria,  though  some  have  cost  more  money. 

We  Avcre  informed  by  some  of  tlie  visitors  at  Nassau,  that  this 
fine  hotel  has  not  alwiiys  been  well  kept,  and  that  its  patrons 
have  some  times  fai-ed  badly,  and  been  the  victims  of  extortion. 
With  an  iucompetent  landlord  in  charge,  and  no  other  suitable 


72  ISLES    OF   SUMMEK, 

house  to  go  to,  Nassau  would  be  far  less  desirable  as  a  winter 
resort  than  we  found  it.  For  the  invalid  especially  a  good  tem- 
porary home  is  essential  to  both  health  and  comfort.  We  re- 
member to  have  heard  only  one  complaint  of  its  management 
while  we  were  there,  and  that  was  because  the  breakfast  and 
dinner  tables  were  for  only  a  portion  of  the  season  supplied  with 
oranges,  many  deeming  that  fruit  almost  a  necessary  of  life  in 
Florida  and  the  Bahamas. 

Bath  rooms,  supplied  with  hot  and  cold  water,  constitute  a 
part  of  the  establishment,  and  accommodate  those  who  do  not 
indulge  in  the  luxury  of  a  bath  in  the  sea,  there  being  nothing 
in  the  temperature  of  the  air  or  Avater  to  prevent  sea  bathing  at 
Nassau  every  day  in  the  year.  The  price  of  board  is  three  dollars 
a  day,  and  while  for  many  it  is  a  large  sum  to  pay,  yet  persons 
who  had  boarded  for  a  while  at  some  of  the  cheaper  houses  in- 
formed us  that  they  obtained  more  for  their  money  at  the  Eoyal 
Victoria  than  any  where  else.  Washing  is  an  extra,  the  charge 
being  seventy-five  cents  per  dozen. 

A  small  building  at  the  west  entrance  of  tlie  hotel  grounds  is 
used  as  a  barber  shop,  and  for  drinking  and  ])illiard  purposes. 
North  of  it  is  the  hotel  garden. 

The  court  m  front  of  the  principal  north  entrance  of  the  Eoyal 
Victoria  Hotel  is  entered  on  three  sides  through  eight  large,  high 
archways,  and  its  ceiling  separates  it  from  the  main  parlor  of  the 
hotel,  which  is  projected  out  from  the  main  building.  Being 
large,  airy,  and  shaded  at  all  times,  it  is  a  favorite  place  of  resort 
by  the  guests  of  the  house.  As  a  consequence,  the  colored  yacht- 
men,  including  the  smooth-tongued,  exi)ericnced  and  skillful 
Captain  Sampson,  and  the  good-natured,  capable,  but  less  showy 
Captains  Johnson  and  Mitchell,  when  not  on  the  water,  Avere 
ever,  during  the  pleasant  days,  to  be  seen  arranging  for  marine 
exploring  parties.     The  varied  attractions  of  the  adjacent  waters, 


■THE  HOTEL  COURT.  '7S 

islands  and  keys  were  portrayed  with  a  fervid  eloquence  which 
never  ceased  to  interest.  Near  by  were  numerous  carriages  for 
hire,  which  were  much  patronized.  This  court  is  also  a  great 
bazaar,  to  which  the  colored  people  of  all  ages  and  of  both  sexes 
who  have  anything  to  sell,  resort  in  large  numbers  to  dispose  of 
their  wares.  Here,  therefore,  is  offered  an  excellent  opportunity 
to  study  the  products  of  these  rocky  islands  and  of  the  adjacent 
waters,  which  is  much  improved  and  enjoyed.  Many  kinds  of 
fruits,  flowers  and  other  vegetable  products,  corals  in  great 
variety,  sugar  cane  and  candies,  sponges  of  all  sizes  and  qualities, 
shells  exquisitely  shaped  and  beautifully  colored,  shell-work  of 
unsurpassed  excellence,  canes  of  the  orange,  lignum  vitee,  ebony, 
satin  and  other  woods,  and  many  other  articles  make  up  their 
stock  in  trade.  Here  also  the  colored  boys  came  to  scramble, 
in  the  most  laughable  manner,  for  pennies,  thrown  to  them  for 
that  purpose  upon  the  hard  pavements  of  lime-stone  and  brick. 
When  down,  and  struggling  for  the  prize,  in  a  wild  tangle  of 
arms  and  legs,  they  seemed  a  hideous,  writhing  mass  of  black  and 
ragged  reptiles  of  the  most  lively  kind.  When  up,  with  faces 
beaming  with  fun  and  frolic,  their  eager  calls  for  "  massa  "  to 
"  trow  a  penny  dis  way  "  soon  dispelled  the  delusion.  In  these 
contests,  as  well  as  on  other  occasions,  their  good  nature  and 
amiability  are  pre-eminently  exemplified. 

For  some  days  after  we  first  arrived  at  the  Koyal  Victoria, 
young  Africa  gave  frequent  vocal  entertainments  in  the  court  of 
the  hotel.  The  voices  of  some  were  soft  and  musical,  and  they 
sang  the  religious  songs  which  they  had  learned  in  ''  the  shouting 
meetings,"  with  perfect  abandon,  and  with  a  fervor  and  zeal  that 
glorified  their  dusky  faces,  swayed  their  bodies,  and  extended 
down  their  arms  to  the  tips  of  their  fingers.  A  sacred  waltz  waa 
sometimes  performed  by  "  Sankey  "  and  his  cousin,  two  little  dota 
of  children,  in  the  most  cunning  and  comical  manner  imaginable, 

7 


74  "  ISLES   OF   SITMMEK. 

while  they  sang  to  the  rhythm  of  the  dance,  ''  0  it  will  be  joy- 
ful," &c.  When  the  miniature  boy  and  girl  near  the  close  sepa- 
rated a  little,  alternately  approached  each  other  and  withdrew, 
ogling,  twisting,  bowing  and  coquetting,  while  they  continued 
to  sing  with  many  repetitions — "  Meet  to  part  no  more;  meet 
to  part  no  more,"  the  gravity  of  the  audience  was  sure  to  give 
way  in  laughter  and  applause. 

The  songs  sung  on  these  occasions  probably  have  never  been 
printed  or  reduced  to  vva-iting.  Having  taken  some  of  them 
down,  we  subjoin  them  for  the  benefit  of  those  of  our  readers 
who  may  have  a  curiosity  to  know  something  in  regard  to  their 
character,  although  the  words  alone  give  only  a  faint  representa- 
tion of  their  merits  when  wedded  by  these  uncultured  people  to 
music,  and  sung  v.'ith  a  fervid  enthusiasm,  born  of  a  native  love 
of  melody  and  of  genuine  devotional  feelings.  A  prominent 
member  of  the  choir  is  Charley,  the  basket  boy  merchant — a 
smart,  bright,  wide-awake  little  fellow,  who  ever  has  a  sharp  eye 
to  business. 

A  marked  feature  in  the  following  was  the  rendering  of  the 
"  Oh's,"  the  notes  ascending  and  descending  the  scale  in  a  very 
lively  manner,  and  the  musical  expression  and  richness  of  tone 
added  greatly  to  the  effect. 


1. 

I'd  rather  pray  my  life  away, 

Oh!  oh!  oh!  oh! 
Than  go  to  hell  and  burn  away. 

Choeus. 
Save  me  Lord  from  sinking  down, 

Oh  I  oh!  oh!  oh! 
Save  me  Lord  from  sinking  down. 


iSACEED   SOXGS   OF  THE   XEGEOES.  75 


I  had  a  book — 'twas  given  to  me, — 
Save  me  Lord  from  sinking  down, 
In  every  line  was  victory. 

Chorus. 
Save  me,  &c. 

3. 
I  had  a  book — 'twas  given  to  me,- 

In  every  line  was  victory ; 
I  had  a  book — 'twas  given  to  me, 
And  every  line  convicted  me. 
Chorus. 
Save  me,  <fcc. 

4. 

Satan  made  a  catch  at  me, 
He  miss  my  soul  and  he  catch  my  sins. 
Chorus. 
Save  me,  Ac. 


WRESTLING  WITH  THE  ANGELS. 

Tell  me  Lord,  shall  I  be  there  now, 

To  sit  on  Ziou's  hill ; 
To  wrestle  with  the  angels  all  night, 

Until  tiie  break  of  daJ^ 
I'll  wrestle  witli  the  angels 

'Till  the  break  of  day. 

Tell  me  Lord,  shiill  I  be  there 

To  sit  on  Zion's  hill  all  night, 

And  take  a  wrestle  with  the  angels, 
All  night !  all  night  I 
Until  the  break  of  day? 


76  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

O  tell  me  God,  shall  I  be  there  now, 

O  tell  me  God,  shall  I  be  there  now, 

O  tell  me  God,  shall  I  be  there  now, 

To  sit  on  Zion's  hill. 

To  ■vvTestle  with  the  angels 

All  night:  All  night! 

Till  the  break  of  day . 

To  an  unciiltivated,  excitable  people,  strongly  imbued  with  a 
taste  for  mnsic,  there  is  something  grand  and  inspiring  in  the 
great  volumes  of  melody  which  issue  from  the  organ,  when  its 
keys  are  skillfully  manipulated.  Thrilled  by  the  great  tidal 
waves  of  liarmony,  no  wonder  that  it  serves  them  as  a  symbol  of 
the  ravishing  music  with  which  all  the  arches  and  domes  of 
heaven  are  suj)posed  to  resound.     Hence  the  following: 

Unbelievers — hear  the  organ  roll ! 

Hear  the  organ  roll ! 

Hear  the  organ  roll ! 
Don't  you  hear  the  organ  roll, 

On  Mount  Calvary! 

Hear  the  organ  roll ! 
Street  strollers — hear  the  organ  roll 

Hear  the  organ  roll ! 

Hear  the  organ  roll ! 
Don't  you  hear  the  organ  roll ! 

On  Mount  Calvary ! 

In  the  next  verse  "  Eum  Drinkers"  and  afterwards  ''Back- 
sliders "  and  others  are  each  in  like  manner  called  u^Don  to  "Hear 
the  organ  roll,"  and  the  enthusiasm  and  power  of  musical  ex- 
pression of  the  vocalists  seemed  to  increase  until  all  appeared  at 
last  to  have  reached  the  very  toj)  of  Mount  Calvary, — a  moun- 
tain they  evidently  believe  exists  somewhere  in  the  happy  land 
which  lies  just  over  the  river  of  death. 


The  folloAving  is  indicative  of  the  fact  that  to  some  extent  the 
negro  mind  in  Xassau  has  been  alTccted  by  its  contact  with  Eo- 
man  Catholicism  here,  or  upon  some  of  the  Spanish  islands. 

Go  aud  carry  the  news, 

Go  and  carry  the  news  to  JIary, 

I'm  bound  down  to  Glory! 
Go  and  carry  the  news  to  JMar}--, 
Go  and  carry  the  news  to  Jlary, 

I'm  bound  down  to  glory  I 

When  Satan  says  I  need  not  fear, 
He'll  have  my  soul  in  the  judgment  day  ; 
I'd  rather  pray  my  life  away, 
Than  go  to  hell  and  spend  one  day; 

Go  and  cany  the  news  to  ]\Iary, 

Go  and  carry  the  news  to  Mary, 
I'm  bound  down  to  glory  I 

Carry  the  news, 

Go  and  carry  the  news  I 

Sister— carry,  carry  the  news  t 

I'm  bound  down  to  glory. 
Go  and  carry  the  news! 
Go  and  carry  the  ncwsl 
Go  and  carry  the  news! 

I'm  bovmd  down  to  glory! 

Here  is  a  sacred  song  which  is  particularly  adapted  to  the  in- 
dolent habits  of  life  of  this  idle  people.  A  heaven  which  neces- 
sitated labor  would  have  very  little  attraction  for  them: 

Come  along  my  sister,  come  along, 
Come  along  my  sister,  come  along, 
For  the  angels  say  there's  nothing  to  do 

But  to  ring  the  charming  bell. 
We  arc  almost  gone,  we  are  almost  gone, 

But  the  angels  say  there's  nothing  to  do 


^8  tSfRS   6¥  St^MitfiR. 

But  to  ring  that  charmiug  bell. 
Come  along  my  sister,  come  along, 
For  the  angels  say  there's  nothing  to  do 
But  to  ring  that  charming  bell. 

The  following  little  piece  is  said  to  liave  been  composed  by  a, 
colored  girl  a  short  time  before  licr  death.  In  tlie  ringing  of 
heaven's  bells,  the  singing  of  the  angels,  and  nionnting  tlie  hill 
of  Zion,  her  vivid  imagination  anticipated  and  had  a  foretaste  oi 
the  happiness  that  awaited  her  in  the  other  world.  It  certainly- 
produced  a  cheery,  comforting  effect  when  musically  and  spirit- 
edly rendered  by  the  dusky  vocalists: 

The  heavenly  bells  are  ringing, 

Archangels  singing, 
Tlie  heavenly  bells  are  ringing,— 

O  rise  loving  sister, 

Let  us  go  to  Zion's  hill ! 

Let  us  go  to  Zion's  hill  1 
The  heavenly  liells  arc  ringing. 

Archangels  singing, 
The  heavenly  bells  are  ringing, 

In  tlie  morning. 

At  last  the  penny  scramblers  and  the  sweet  singers  of  Xassau 
caused  so  much  noise,  and  such  a  disturbance  of  the  quiet  which 
usually  prevades  these  dreamy  shores,  that  a  man  with  a  long 
unsentimental  whip  was  sent,  whenever  they  assembled,  to  drive 
them  away.  Still,  however,  they  occasionally  appeared,  and, 
for  the  base  coins  of  the  strangers,  exercised  those  gifts  divine, 
which,  like  milk  in  a  cocoanut,  one,  from  outward  appearance, 
would  never  for  a  moment  suppose  to  exist. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

Flora  of  the  Isles  of  Summer.  The  FertiUzuig  Air.  Large  Trees  from 
Stone  Quarries,  and  vpon  the  Tops  of  Stone  Walls.-  Trees  that  icill  not  Die 
and  cannot  be  Killed.  Trees  Within  Trees.  The  Monkey  Tamarind,  the 
Wild  Fig,  and  the  Ceiba  or  Silk  Cotton  Trees.  Thompson's  Folly.  Palm 
Trees— the  Cocoanut,  the  African,  the  Cabbage  and  the  Pabfietto.  The  India 
Rubber  Tree.  The  Singing  Tree.  The  Tamarind  Trees,  and  Trees  Valuable 
for  Timber,  for  Dyes,  for  their  Spicy  Bark,  and  for  Medicinal  Purposes. 
The  Natural  more  Wonderful  than  the  Supernatural, 

"And  all  the  broad  leaves  over  me 
Clapped  their  little  hands  in  glee, 

With  one  continued  sound, — 
A  slumbrous  sound,  a  sound  that  brings 

The  feeling  of  a  dream." 

When  visiting  for  the  first  time  tlic  isles  of  unending  summer, 
one  cannot  fail  to  be  deeply  impressed  by  their  new,  diversified, 
and  curious  forms  of  vegetable  life.  It  matters  not  that  he  is 
not  a  close  observer  of  nature,  or  an  educated  and  trained  botan- 
ist. Perhaps  if  he  were  he  could  not,  by  reason  of  his  profound 
technical  learning,  so  well  communicate  to  common  minds,  the 
impressions  and  thoughts  which  such  scenes  make  and  inspire. 
The  learning  of  some  seems  to  make  them  useful  only  to  scholars. 

Upon  the  island  of  New  Providence  we  trod  what  was  to  us  a 
new  world,  and  every  climbing  vine  and  flowering  shrub,  and 
branching  tree  ministered  to  our  happiness.  AYe  seemed  to  our- 
selves to  be  a  newly  made  Adam  first  introduced  to  his  garden. 


86  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

fortunately  relieved,  liowerer,  from  all  obligation  to  '*  dress  and 
keep  it."  If  we  had  the  learning  of  an  old  and  experienced 
botanist,  we  should  have  seen  too  much.  As  it  was,  we  saw  as 
much  as,  untrained  and  unpracticed,  we  could  well  master,  or 
describe  in  a  single  chapter.  A  few  pen-photograjjhs  of  some  of 
the  more  striking  floral  scenes  and  pictures  which  we  witnessed, 
may  communicate  to  our  readers  something  of  the  interest  and 
pleasure  which  the  reality  produced  upon  the  mind  of  the  author. 

The  first  impression  was  one  of  astonishment  at  finding  upon 
such  almost  naked  rocks  anything  above  lichens  and  the  smaller 
and  simpler  forms  of  vegetable  life.  But  nature  is  never  as  un- 
just or  partial  as  she  often  appears  to  the  casual  observer.  When 
she  withholds  with  one  hand,  she,  with  the  other,  is  busy 
dispensing  lavishly  her  gifts.  The  princijile  of  compensation 
exists  everywhere  throughout  her  Avide  domain.  Human  life 
and  human  experience  teem  with  evidences  of  this  great  and 
universal  truth,  Avhile  the  material  world,  in  all  its  varied  and 
wondrous  forms,  is  permeated  with  the  same  great  principle. 
Upon  the  Bahama  islands  it  is  manifested  on  every  hand.  The 
want  of  soil  to  cover  the  nakedness  of  the  rocks  finds  material, 
though  not  full  compensation,  in  a  climate  so  happily  constitu- 
ted that  life  exists  and  thrives  largely  upon  air. 

Mr.  Charles  Burnside  (Avhoso  kind  and  obliging  attentions  we 
are  glad  of  this  opportunity  to  gratefully  acknowledge)  took  us 
to  the  coral  limestone  quarry  upon  his  premises,  to  which  we  have 
already  referred,  from  which,  for  a  hundred  years  or  more,  stone 
has  been  taken  for  building  purposes — including  stone  for  the 
Royal  Victoria  Hotel.  On  tlie  floor  of  that  quarry,  bottomed 
upon  rock,  and  upon  nothing  else,  we  saw  in  full  and  lusty  vigor, 
a  wild  fig  tree,  a  species  of  the  banyan,  which  in  forty  years  had 
attained  a  great  size,  its  many  large  branches  towering  high  up 
in  the  air  with  a  lateral  spread  of  about  eighty  feet.     It  was  full 


WILD  PIG  TREES.  81 

of  fruit  in  eyery  stage  of  development,  the  ripened  figs  being  of 
the  size  of  the  end  of  one's  little  finger,  but  as  perfect  in  their 
parts  as  the  larger  figs  of  commerce.  Little  lizards,  like  embryo 
monkeys,  were  here  and  there  seen  through  the  green  foliage, 
while  below,  sheep  were  browsing,  and  eating  the  fallen  fruit, 
docile  and  happy,  growing  for  the  shearer  their  wool,  and 
fattening  their  carcasses  for  the  butcher.  These  figs  are  to  the 
taste  sweet  and  pleasant,  and,  though  so  small,  their  immense 
number  make  them  valuable.  Children  eat  them,  and  upon  them 
hogs  are  fattened.  Under  this  tree,  the  top  of  the  rocky  floor 
was  covered  with  a  net  work  of  its  roots,  one  of  which  pene- 
trated the  cellar  of  Mr.  Burnside,  some  three  hundred  feet  distant. 

We  saw  two  of  the  same  species  of  banyan  tree  tliat  had  ob- 
tained a  large  growth  from  seed  blown  by  the  wind  or  depos- 
ited by  birds  on  top  of  a  stone  wall.  This  wall  was  composed  of 
irregular  fragments,  and  was  two  and  a-half  feet  wide  at  the  top 
and  about  four  feet  high.  The  seed  there  germinated,  pushed 
out  their  little  fibrous  roots,  which  crept  down  each  side  of  the 
stone  wall,  and  fastened  to  and  extended  among  the  rocks  in  the 
fields  which  the  wall  in  part  inclosed.  These  rootlets  enlarged 
with  the  growth  of  the  trees,  while  from  the  top  of  the  wall 
stems  pushed  up  into  the  air.  One  of  the  trees  had  five  stems 
whose  diameters  varied  from  six  to  twelve  inches.  On  the  top 
of  a  stone  wall  within  the  grounds  of  the  Victoria  Hotel,  there 
is  the  stump  of  a  tree  a  foot  in  diameter,  which  unquestionably 
grew  there,  as  its  roots  are  still  seen  where  they  entered  and 
pushed  out  from  among  the  stones  of  the  wall.  Having  had 
some  experience  in  setting  out,  manuring,  watching  and  water- 
ing trees  in  Connecticut,  the  pluck,  enterprise,  persistence  and 
independence  of  these  wild  Bahama  trees  challenged  our  warm- 
est admiration. 

Mr.  Burnside  also  called  our  attention  to  a  banyan  tree  upon 


82  ISLES  OF  STTMMER. 

his  grounds  near  his  front  gateway,  having  a  spread  of  about  one 
hundred  feet,  inside  the  body  of  which  there  is  the  dead  and 
decayed  body  of  a  Pride  of  India  tree.  Mr.  Burnside  is  about 
thirty-five  years  of  age,  and  wlien  a  boy,  as  he  said,  he  "often 
went  all  through  the  Pride  of  India  tree,  and  there  was  nothing 
of  the  banyan  tree  to  be  seen."  A  banyan  seed  in  some  way — 
perhaps  as  the  result  of  one  of  the  experiments  in  raising  trees 
of  some  bold  and  intelligent  bird — found  lodgment  where  the 
branches  of  the  old  tree  diverged  from  its  stem,  from  ten  to 
fifteen  feet  from  the  ground,  and,  no  way  dismayed  at  the  dis- 
couraging prospect,  it  did  not  repine  at  its  hard  destiny,  or 
arraign  the  goodness  of  Providence,  but  concluded  to  make  a 
bold  and  heroic  struggle  for  existence.  Its  little,  minute  fibrous 
rootlets  started  out  upon  a  seemingly  hopeless  mission.  To  the 
Pride  of  India,  with  its  graceful  branches,  beautiful  foliage, 
and  large  and  fragrant  clusters  of  flowers,  they  were  like  so 
many  gossamer  threads.  But  the  days  and  months  and  years 
rolled  on.  The  rootlets  noiselessly  and  stealthily  passed  down 
upon  all  sides  of  the  trunk  that  was  giving  them  a  support, 
fastened  into  the  rocks,  and  the  doom  of  the  Pride  of  India  was 
forever  sealed.  The  law  of  ''the  survival  of  the  fittest"  was 
exemplified.  The  little  rootlets  around  the  trunk  enlarged  into 
stems,  perfectly  encircled  the  old  tree  with  a  living  wall  of  a  tree 
of  a  most  rampant  habit  of  growth,  and  now,  only  by  a  close  and 
critical  inspection,  can  a  stranger  ascertain  that  this  immense 
banyan  tree  perfectly  encloses  the  dea(i»body  of  a  victim,  whose 
life  it  has,  anaconda  fashion,  crushed  out. 

Mr.  C.  Watcrtoninhis  "  Wanderings,"  states  that  in  Demerara, 
S.  A.,  the  wild  fig  tree  in  a  similar  manner  often  "  rears  itself  from 
one  of  the  thick  branches  of  the  top  of  the  mora,"  feeds  upon 
the  juices  of  the  latter,  and  in  turn  is  taken  possession  of  by 
vines,  and  doomed  to  contribute  a  portion  of  its  juices  towards 


TEKACITY   OF  TREE-LTFE.  8S 

their  support  and  growth,  so  that  ''  with  their  usurpation  of  the 
resources  of  the  fig  tree,  and  the  fig  tree  of  tlie  mora,  the  mora, 
unable  to  support  a  cliarge  whicli  nature  never  intended  it  shouki, 
dies  under  its  burden,  and  then  the  fig  tree  and  its  usurping  jiro- 
geny  of  A'ines,  receiving  no  more  succor  from  their  Lite  foster 
parent,  drop  and  perish  in  their  turn."'  The  piratical  fig  tree  we 
have  described  appeared  to  be  receiving  all  its  nourishment  from 
tlie  rocks  to  which  its  net-work  of  roots  were  fastened,  and  from 
the  air  that  enveloped  its  Avide  spreading  and  lusty  branches. 
No  usurping  vines  imperilled  its  life. 

In  the  destructive  hurricane  of  ISOG,  some  six  or  seven  larsre 
trees  were  torn  up  by  the  roots  in  one  of  Mr.  Burnside's  lots. 
One  tree  which  was  completely  prostrated,  still  adhered  to  the 
rocks  by  a  few  of  its  unsevered  roots,  and  we  saw  it  green  and 
growing  still,  as  if  nothing  unusual  or  adverse  had  happened. 

A  large  Jamaica  tamarind  tree,  four  or  five  feet  in  diameter 
at  its  base,  was  at  the  same  time  also  prostrated,  and  it  had  thus 
far  resisted  all  the  efforts  of  the  father  of  Mr.  Burnside  during 
his  life,  and  of  his  son  since  his  death,  to  kill  and  get  rid  of  it. 
Fires  were  built  around  it,  but  it  was  too  full  of  sap  to  burn,  and 
the  bafiled  fires  went  out.  They  "  hacked  it"  as  they  had  time 
and  opportunity,  but  the  wounds  soon  healed  and  were  covered 
with  new  bark.  It  was  in  the  way,  but  they  had  thus  far  been 
unable  to  wholly  abate  the  nuisance.  At  one  time  a  large  section 
of  the  trunk  was  detached  and  afterwards  removed  with  very 
great  difficulty  by  piece-meal.  After  more  than  twelve  years, 
some  six  or  seven  feet  in  length  of  the  butt  remains.  It  is  fas- 
tened to  the  rocks  by  a  very  small  number  of  the  old,  and  by  large 
re-inforcements  of  new  roots,  which  this  butt  end  of  the  old  trunk 
has  pluckily  and  persistently  formed  and  tied  to  the  under-lying 
rocks.  Every  wound  it  has  during  all  these  years  received,  has 
been  perfectly  healed,  and  over  the  whole  of  the  part  from  which 


^4  Isles  of  suMirfEii. 

the  section  was  detached — a  circle  not  far  from  four  feet  in 
diameter — a  new  and  healthy  bark  has  grown,  while  small  new 
sprouts  have  in  different  places  made  their  appearance.  Such 
tenacity  of  life  and  recuperative  energy  we  had  not  supposed  ex- 
isted anywhere.  Were  the  climate  of  the  Bahamas  as  stimulating 
to  mind  as  it  is  to  matter  in  some  of  its  forms,  its  inhabitants 
would  intellectually  far  excel  all  other  people  past  or  present. 
Notwithstanding  the  "  never  say  die"  pluck  of  this  memento  of 
the  great  hurricane  of  'G(3,  its  continuance  for  many  years  is  also 
in  part  traceable  to  tlie  absence  of  proper  tools  and  appliances  for 
its  removii!.  The  mechanic  arts  are  there  still  in  a  state  of  rude 
and  primitive  simplicity.  Aside  from  the  building  of  small  ves- 
sels of  not  exceeding  a  hundred  tons,  and  at  rare  intervals  a  ncAV 
store  or  dwelling,  there  is  little  skilled  labor,  and  an  official  re- 
port states  that  their  only  manufactures  arc  ropes,  baskets  and 
palmetto  hats. 

Two  or  three  small  sugar  mills  run  by  horse  power,  and  a  grind 
stone  in  the  rear  of  the  hotel,  rotated  by  hand,  were  the  only 
labor-saving  machines  we  saw  upon  the  island.  The  pine  trees 
are  cut  down  often,  and  perhaps  generally,  with  long  knives. 
They  are  not  very  large,  and  the  swinging  of  an  ax  would  require 
too  great  an  exertion  in  this  climate  to  suit  the  taste  of  its  ami- 
able, good-natured  and  iiolitically  free  negroes. 

The  Jamaica  tamarind  tree  is  sometimes  called  the  Monkey 
Tamarind,  from  the  fact  that  occasionally  in  Jamaica  a  monkey 
will  insert  its  paw,  when  open  and  extended,  through  the  end 
of  the  large,  hard,  woody  j^od,  wliich  the  tree  produces,  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  the  seeds  which  it  contains.  Grasping 
these,  his  paw,  when  closed,  is  too  large  for  the  hole,  and  either 
because  he  is  too  stubborn  and  willful  to  open  his  j^aw,  or  because 
he  has  not  sufficient  intelligence  and  presence  of  mind  to  do  so, 
he  holds  on  and  pulls,  and  pulls  and  holds  on,  until  one  very 


THE   BAlsTYAN  TREE.  85 

mncli  his  inferior  in  climbing  trees  discovers  and  captnres  him. 
Tliougli  higher  in  tlie  scale  of  life,  and  ronnding  out  a  larger 
and  more  showy  link,  man,  in  ways  equally  stubborn  and  stupid, 
often  rushes  npon  and  invites  his  own  destruction.  Let  ns  there- 
fore, pity  these  unfortunates,  and  not  laugh  at  them. 

A  specimen  of  the  Ficus  Indica,  or  banyan  tree  of  India,  is 
erroneonsly  supposed  to  exist  near  Nassau,  and  sti'angers  often 
leave  that  city  lirmly  convinced  that  they  have  added  to  their 
new  and  pleasant  experiences  a  personal  acquaintance  with  that 
famous  tree  of  the  Orient.  An  intelligent  native  merchant  of 
Nassau,  who  is  officially  connected  with  our  own  Government, 
informed  us  that  the  (so-called)  banyan  tree  near  Nassau  had 
been  imported — that  it  bore  no  fruit,  and  that  it  is  the  only  gen- 
uine India  banyan  tree  upon  the  island  of  New  Providence. 
He  did  not  intentionally  misrepresent,  and  would  generally  be 
considered  good  authority,  but  he  was  mistaken.  Confident  that 
we  had  seen  little  figs  growing  upon  the  tree  in  question,  we 
visited  it  again,  examined  it  more  critically,  and  severed  and 
carried  away  from  it  branches  of  Avild  ligs  in  every  stage  of  de- 
velopment. It  is  a  species  of  the  Ficus,  has  the  same  habit  of 
growth  with  the  Ficus  Indica,  but  is  identical  in  kind  with  the 
other  wild  fig  trees  upon  the  island  of  New  Providence,  and  ex- 
hibits far  more  strikingly  than  any  of  the  others  those  pcculiai'- 
ities  which  have  made  the  banyan  tree  of  India  so  famous. 

An  intelligent  and  pleasing  correspondent  of  the  Troy  Budget 
(the  Hon.  C.  L.  ]\IcArthur)  writes  concerning  the  Nassau  ban- 
yan tree,  that  ''after  its  main  limbs  have  grown  out  from  its 
trunk  some  twenty  or*tliirty  feet,  the  hranches  turn  down  to  the 
earth,  taking  root,  and  forming  a  column  of  support  for  its  pa- 
rent branch,  as  well  as  another  tree  of  itself.''  "It  is  a  very 
curious  tree,  furnishing  friendly  shade,  ever  extending  by  new 
trunks,  ever  widening  its  circle  by  its  to})  striking  down  wid 

8 


^4  ISLES   OF  SUMMER. 

taking  root,  and  every  new  growth  and  stem  being  still  a  Y>aYi 
of  the  parent  tree  to  which  it  is  ligamented  as  were  tlie  Siamese 
twins."  No  doubt  Mr.  McArthur  visited  the  tree  he  has  under- 
taken to  describe,  and  being  a  man  of  ability  and  literary  culture, 
his  testimony  is  that  of  a  credible  witness — and  yet,  he  is  con- 
tradicted by  the  facts.  He  was,  as  all  are  who  see  it,  astonished 
and  delighted  to  find  a  tree  possessing  such  a  peculiar  habit  of 
growth,  and  multiplying  itself  into  a  large  grove  or  small  forest 
But  he  failed  to  make  such  a  close  and  critical  examination  us 
was  necessary  in  order  to  enable  him  to  enlighten  his  readers  in 
regard  to  the  method  by  which  the  singular  result  is  produced. 
Had  he  done  so,  he  would  have  discovered  that  the  branches  do 
not  "turn  down  to  the  earth  and  take  root,"  nor  does  "its 
top  strike  down  and  take  root,"'  but  from  the  outstretching 
branches,  at  various  distances  from  the  stem  or  trunk,  7'oots  de- 
scend a  distance  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  through  the  air,  fasten 
to  tJie  rocky  bottom,  enlarge  from  year  to  year,  and  thus  by  sin- 
gle and  clustered  living  columns  support  the  immense  branches 
from  which  as  roots  they  descended.  These  roots  thicken  and 
enlarge  as  they  grow,  and  we  saw  some  on  their  way  to  the  sur- 
face rocks  from  one  to  three  inches  in  diameter,  bearded  at  the 
end  with  a  long  hairy  fibrous  covering,  which,  we  presume,  ab- 
sorb nutriment  from  the  surrounding  air. 

Milton  makes  a  similar  mistake,  and  if  he  did  not  originate 
the  error  he  has  given  it  a  wide  circulation.  He  refers  to  the 
J^iciis  Indica,  but  this  tree  also  is  extended  by  means  of  roots 
which  the  lateral  branches  send  down  to  the  ground  from  an 
elevation  above  it  of  a  number  of  yards.  In  the  following  lines 
in  Paradise  Lost  ho  has,  in  describing  it,  drawn  in  this  respect 
upon  his  imagination; 


THE  BANYAN"  TREE.  8? 

*'  The  fig  tree,  not  that  kind  for  fruit  renowned, 
But  such,  as  at  this  day  to  Indians  known 
In  Malabar  or  Decan,  spreads  her  arms, 
Branching  so  broai  and  long,  that  in  the  ground 
The  bended  twigs  take  root,  and  daughters  grow 
About  the  mother  tree,  a  pillar'd  shade. 
High  o'er  arched,  and  eclioing  wallcs  between." 

These  roots  grow  and  become  important  columns  of  support 
to  the  wide  and  ever  extending  branches,  many  of  them  being 
multiform  or  clustered,  forming 

"Huge  trunks — and  each  particular  trunk  a  growth 
Of  intertwisted  fibres  serpentine. 
Up-coiling,  and  inveterately  convolved— 
******        a  pillar'd  shade." 

Some  of  these  root  trunks  are  not  only  singularly  entwined 
and  twisted,  but  they  have  looped  upon  and  attached  to  them 
small  aerial  rootlets  which  add  a  new  feature  unlike  anything  we 
had  observed.  Evidently  little  roots,  in  dropping  down  from  the 
nearly  horizontal  branches,  stoj^ped  on  the  way  at  different  dis- 
tances, varying  from  a  few  inches  to  a  foot  or  more,  to  rest  and 
establish  new  bases  of  supply,  and  fastening,  by  a  living  growth, 
to  one  of  the  root  columns  of  support,  they  have  pushed  out 
again  into  the  air,  and  after  making  a  further  growth  of  a  few 
inches,  they  have  again  stopped  for  a  similar  purpose,  fastened 
to  the  same  column  in  the  same  wa}',  then  pushed  out  again,  re- 
peating the  process  until  either  the  rocks  are  reached  or  Uioyare 
absorbed  and  lost  in  the  older  and  larger  growth  to  which  they 
have  in  different  places  adhered. 

This  tree  is  situated  upon  a  clearing  a  little  to  the  east  of  Nas- 
sau, and  a  few  rods  from  the  highway  which  skirts  tlic  harbor. 
It  is  near  a  dwelling  house  known  as  "Thompson's  Folly" — a 


88  ISLES  OF   SUMMER. 

tall  wooden  building,  unsheltered,  and  so  exposed  to  tlie  wind 
that  the  natives  believed  that  it  would  fall  an  easy  prey  to  the  first 
hurricane  that  should  visit  Nassau  after  its  erection.  They 
therefore  gave  it  the  name  which  it  still  bears.  But  the  evil 
prophets  of  Nassau  seem  to  have  been  uninspired,  and,  as  if  to 
discredit  and  confound  them,  the  fearful  and  most  destructive 
hurricane  of  1866,  while  it  turned  many  a  solid  and  costly  struc- 
ture into  a  ruin,  left  this  house  intact  and  unharmed.  Although 
it  survived  the  hurricane,  it  has  been  ruined  by  a  bad  name. 
There  it  stands,  gloomy  and  solitary — treeless,  unprotected,  and 
unoccupied.  Commanding  a  fine  view,  cooled  by  the  trade  winds, 
fanned  by  every  breeze  that  ruffles  the  surface  of  the  neighboring 
ocean,  stately  as  an  English  ofiicial,  seemingly  in  a  good  state  of 
repair,  and  having  a  very  famous  and  curious  tree  for  its  nearest 
neighbor,  it  has  been  rendered  absolutely  worthless,  good  for 
nothing  but  for  fire-wood  in  a  place  Avhere  fires  are  a  nuisance, 
because  some  meddlesome  jDcople  have  given  it  a  bad  name. 
Thus  has  it  often  happened  that  Slander  has  given  to  Innocence 
a  name  which  has  ever  after  remained  like  the  brand  of  the  divine 
displeasure  upon  the  forehead  of  Cain.* 

A  low  terrace  has  at  some  time  been  made  under  this  tree  out 
of  small  fragments  of  coral  limestone,  thereby  securing  a  more 
level  surface  for  those  who  might  repose  or  have  picnics  in  its 
cool  and  grateful  shade.  This  is  now  thickly  covered  with  a  net- 
work of  roots,  and  the  branches  and  roots  have  extended  far  be- 
yond its  limits.     Springing  out  of  the  rocks  under  the  tree  there 

*  Since  this  was  written,  and  during  the  time  of  our  second  visit  to  Nassau, 
'•  The  Folly  "  was  temporarily  occupied  by  a  medical  gentleman  and  his  fami- 
ly, who,  it  was  currently  reported,  for  prudential  reasons,  left  their  more 
central  city  residence,  (located  not  far  from  our  hotel,)  which  a  malignant 
disease  had  invaded.  In  a  subsequent  chapter  this  disease  will  be  more  par- 
ticularly mentioned  and  considered. 


BLACK  beard's  TREE.      AIR  PLANTS.  S9 

Is  growing  a  species  of  cactus,  wild  coffee  bushes,  and  vines  and 
shrubs  with  which  we  were  not  familiar.  The  top  of  the  tree 
towards  the  harbor,  being  more  exposed  to  the  wind,  was  evi- 
dently rudely  trimmed  and  dismembered  by  the  hurricane,  and 
the  growth  and  development  appear  to  have  been  mostly  on  the 
opposite  side. 

It  was  under  a  wild  fig  or  banyan  tree  that  Black  Beard,  the 
noted  pirate,  in  the  early  history  of  Nassau,  ''used  to  sit  in 
council  amongst  his  banditti,  concerting  or  promulgating  his 
plans  and  exercising  the  authority  of  a  magistrate."  The  trunk 
of  it  existed  and  was  seen  by  McKinncn  nearly  a  hundred  years 
afterwards,  in  1804,  as  he  states  in  his  "Tour  through  the  West 
Indies."  The  author  of  ''Letters  from  the  Bahama  Islands, 
written  in  1823-4,"  states  that  "the  remains  of  an  immense  tree 
are  to  be  seen  on  which  it  is  said  the  renowned  Black  Beard  hung 
his  prisoners,  and  it  is  supposed  by  many  that  large  treasures 
were  buried  near  it  by  the  pirates."  A  recent  Nassau  magazine 
writer  states  that  "Black  Beard's  tree"  used  to  stand  at  the 
north-west  corner  of  the  eastern  parade  ground. 

Some  of  the  highway  fences  in  the  outskirts  of  Nassau  furnish 
strong  evidences  of  the  favorable  influence  of  this  climate  ujion 
vcgetaljle  life  and  growth.  The  posts  in  a  green  state,  unhewn 
and  unmorticed,  having  in  some  ingenious  manner  been  made  to 
assume  an  upright  position,  are  pusliing  out  and  developing 
branches,  apparently  unconscious  that  from  some  tree  in  the 
forest  tliey  have  been  dismembered. 

There  are  upon  the  island  many  species  of  air  plants,  and  one 
of  these  being  suspended  upon  the  wall  of  our  room,  obtained 
nutriment  enough  from  the  surrounding  air  alone  to  make  it  an 
object  of  attraction  to  a  vegetable  parasite,  and  a  beautiful  and 
delicate  little  vine  was  soon  discovered  feeding  upon  its  juices, 
which  grew,  budded,  blossomed  and  flourished,  until  the  poor 


?>0  ISLES  OF  STTMMER. 

little  air  plaut,  tired  of  keeping  iDoarder.s  while  only  living  upon 
air,  turned  yellow  and  died. 

A  most  remarkable  specimen  of  the  ceiba  or  silk  cotton  tree 
may  be  seen  in  the  rear  of  the  central  one  of  a  collection  of  pub- 
lic buildings  which  form  three  sides  of  a  quadrangle  at  the  soutli- 
Avest  corner  of  Bay  and  Parliament  streets.  It  has  a  spread  of 
one  hundred  and  sixteen  feet  from  east  to  west,  and  of  ninety 
feet  in  the  opposite  directions.  Its  trunk  is  immense.  Around 
and  forming  part  of  it  are  huge  leaves  or  partitions  of  wood  some 
five  or  six  inches  thick,  which  are  more  or  less  twisted;  these 
start  from  a  point  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  from  the  ground  and, 
reaching  the  earth  at  an  angle  of  something  like  forty-five  degrees, 
form  around  the  tree  half-a-dozen  large  openings  or  chambers 
resembling  somewhat  horse-stalls.  There  are  a  number  of  silk 
cotton  trees  upon  the  grounds  of  the  Eoyal  Victoria  Hotel,  and 
being  deciduous,  and  developing  their  leaves  at  different "times^ 
we  were  much  interested  in  observing  the  rapidity  with  which 
they  fully  leaved  out  after  their  buds  commenced  to  swell.  One 
of  these  is  very  large,  many  of  its  huge  branches  are  almost  hori- 
zontal, and  a  spacious  platform,  with  seats  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  musicians  and  others,  erected  in  the  tree,  is  reached 
by  a  wide  wooden  railed  stairway.  These  trees  have  large  seed 
pods,  Avhich  are  packed  Avith  cotton  of  a  soft  silky  texture.  The 
long  large  roots,  like  huge  anacondas,  traverse  the  surface  of  the 
limestone  rock,  and  fasten  the  trees  down  with  innumerable  liv- 
ing clamps  and  threads.  As  if  aware  of  the  fact  that  they  have 
been  brought  by  man  from  a  land  of  comparative  meteorlogical 
quiet  and  repose,  to  an  island  that  lies  in  the  favorite  track  of 
tbe  hurricane,  it  does  not,  like  the  cypress  of  Florida,  the  pines 
of  the  Korth-west,  or  the  elms  of  New  England,  proudly  push  its 
branches  high  up  in  the  air,  but  with  more  modesty  and  prudence 
than  elegance,  abruptly  stops  the  upward  growth  of  its  limbs. 


THE   CEIBA,    OR   ftTLl?   COTTON"  TREE,  91 

and  makes  up  in  lateral  tipread  what  it  lacks  in  elevation.  The 
first  mentioned  silk  cotton  tree  is  believed  by  an  apparently  well 
informed  Nassau  writer,  whom  we  have  heretofore  quoted,  to 
have  been  brought  from  South  Carolina,  and,  as  he  thinks,  all 
the  others  upon  the  island  have  been  derived  from  it.  None  of 
the  latter  that  we  saw,  exhibit  the  wonderful  formation  of  booths 
around  and  constituting  a  portion  of  the  stem  which  characterizes 
and  makes  famous  their  "ancestral  tree." 

"  The  negroes,"  says  Charles  Kingsley,  "  are  shy  of  felling  the 
ceiba.  It  is  a  magic  tree,  haunted  by  spirits.  There  are  '  too 
muchjumbies  m  him,''  the  negro  says,  and  of  those  who  dare  cut 
him  down,  some  one  will  die  or  come  to  harm  within  the  year." 
The  one  we  have  described  looks  indeed  as  if  it  was  ''possessed," 
and  it  is  easy  for  any  one  to  imagine  that  viewless  goblins  sport 
among  its  roots  and  bi'anches,  and  repose  in  the  strange  open 
chambers  of  its  buttressed  trunk.  Mr.  Gosse  says  that  in  Ja- 
maica the.  negroes  believe  that  ''  if  a  person  throws  a  stone  at  the 
trunk  [of  a  cciba]  he  will  be  visited  with  sickness  or  other  mis- 
fortune," and  that  "■  when  they  intend  to  cut  one  down  they  first 
pour  rum  at  the  roots  as  a  propitiatory  offering. "  We  have  no 
doubt  but  that  the  favor  of  many  cmljodied  spirits  has  likewise 
been  secured  by  a  liberal  use  of  good  Jamaica  rum,  a  little  difl'er- 
ently  administered. 

An  old  writer  states  that  the  silk  cotton  tree  sometimes  grows 
so  large  that  fom'teen  thousand  persons  can  assemble  under  its 
branches. 

There  is  a  remarkable  specimen  of  this  singular  tree  at  Trini- 
dad, whicli  is  thus  described  by  Mr.  Higgins,  an  English  gentle- 
man, in  his  recently  published  "Notes  by  a  Field  Naturalist." 

*'  We  came  almost  suddenly  upon  a  true  monarch  of  the  woods, 
a  silk  cotton  tree,  [Bombax  Ceiba),  said  to  be  the  largest  tree  but 
one  on  the  island.     When  young,  the  trunk  of  the  tree  is  round, 


n^  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

and  beset  with  sturdy  spines,  capable,  as  we  well  know,  of  in- 
flicting a  severe  wound.  As  it  increases  in  age  and  size,  the 
thorns  fall  off,  and  five  or  six  broad  buttress-shaped  supports  are 
developed,  star-wise,  from  the  trunk,  propping  the  tree  in  various 
directions  against  the  enormous  overhanging  force  which  must 
bear  upon  it  during  tropical  storms.  *  *  *  A  rough  estimate 
of  the  buttresses  gave  a  circumference  of  eighty  yards,  or  a 
diameter  of  about  eighty  feet.  The  compartments  between  the 
buttresses  resembled  small  angular  courts  separated  by  high 
%valls."  He  estimates  that  in  these  compartments,  outside  of 
the  solid  trunk,  if  the  thin  dividing  buttress  were  removed, 
"2,400  people  could  stand  round  this  ceiba,"  allowing  each  two 
square  feet  of  standing  room. 

In  tropical  and  semi-tropical  countries  there  is  no  tree  or  bush 
which  so  attracts  the  attention  and  interests  the  mind  of  the 
stranger  from  the  North  as  the  palm.  It  is  one  of  God's  most 
valuable  gifts  to  man,  and  he  has  few  physical  wants  that  it  can- 
not be  made  in  whole  or  in  part  to  supply,  while  it  greatly  min- 
isters by  its  strange  and  varied  beauty  to  his  esthetic  taste. 
Botanists  in  classifying  and  arranging  it  divide  it  into  five  or 
more  families,  seventy  to  a  hundred  genera,  and  a  thousand  or 
more  different  species.  In  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Florida, 
we  made  the  acquaintance  of  two  of  these, — the  scrub  palmetto, 
with  its  beautiful  long,  green,  radiating  leaves,  from  which  palm 
leaf  fans  are  made,  and  the  palmetto  tree,  from  whose  tall, 
straight,  branchless  stem  or  body,  a  rich  cluster  of  similar  leaves 
spread  out  in  every  direction  at  the  top. 

The  cocoanut  palm  has  the  same  habit  of  growth,  and  thrives 
upon  the  island  of  New  Providence.  But  its  leaves  are  quite 
unlike  those  of  the  palmetto,  being  long  and  graceful,  crowning 
the  tall,  straight,  branchless  stem,  and  drooping  in  beautiful 
curves  over  the  thickly  compacted  fruit  that  nestles  under  the 
shadows  of  its  evergreen  wings. 


THE    CABBAGE    PALM.  93 

There  are  in  and  near  Xassau  a  few  African  palms  which  are 
much  admired.  They  are  tall,  stately,  branchless  and  truly  royal 
trees,  pre-eminently  graceful  and  beautiful.  The  stem  of  this 
palm  is  very  delicately  moulded,  of  small  diameter,  enlarging  at 
or  near  the  center,  and  gradually  tapering  each  way,  presenting 
a  novel  and  pleasing  outline.  Its  long,  feather-shaped,  curved 
and  drooping  leaves  stretch  out  from  its  top  on  all  sides,  a  chap- 
let,  light,  airy  and  so  exceedingly  attractive  that  we  never  ceased 
to  look  at  it  but  with  regret.  While  strongly  resembling  the 
cocoanut  palm,  this  tree  appeared  to  expend  less  of  its  vital  ener- 
gies in  the  production  of  fruit,  and  more  in  the  develoj^ment  of 
a  higher  type  of  beauty.  The  palms,  esthetically  considered, 
rank  high  among  the  trees  of  the  forest,  and  in  the  perfection 
of  grace  and  comeliness  the  African  palm  surpasses  them  all. 

In  this  connection,  the  cabbage  palm  is  entitled  to  a  passing 
notice.  In  some  more  favorable  localities  it  is  said  to  attain  a 
height  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet — nearly  twice  that  of  any 
we  saw  in  the  Bahamas.  As  if  animated  by  a  noble  ambition, 
it  wastes  none  of  its  energies  upon  ''side  issues,"  but,  pushing 
its  branchless  stem  up  boldly  towards  the  heavens,  it  towers 
above  its  less  successful  rivals,  and  in  the  bright,  warm  sunlight 
of  the  upper  air  matures  those  long,  droopiug,  graceful  and 
feathery  leaves  Avhich  reveal,  even  to  the  casual  and  distant  ob- 
server, the  noble  family  to  which  it  belongs.  Young,  tender 
and  succulent  leaves,  at  the  base  of  those  which  are  fully  devel- 
oped, are  formed  and  compacted  into  a  light-colored  head,  which 
is  eaten  as  a  salad.  It  is  also  cooked  and  prepared  for  the  table 
like  the  cabbage — hence  its  name. 

Mr.  Kingsley  in  his  ''At  Last,"  gives  the  following  descrip- 
tion of  some  cabbage  palm  trees  which  he  saw  in  tlie  West  Indies. 
*' We  stopped  at  a  manager's,  with  a  palmiste  [oreodoxa  olera- 
cea)  or  cabbage  palm  on  each  side  of  the  garden  gate — a  pair  of 


94  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

columns  which  any  prince  would  have  longed  for  as  ornaments 
for  his  lawn.  It  is  the  fashion  here,  and  a  good  one  it  is,  to 
leave  the  palmistes,  a  few  at  least,  when  the  land  is  cleared,  or 
to  plant  them  near  the  house,  merely  on  account  of  their  won- 
derful beauty.  One  palmiste  was  pointed  out  to  me  in  a  field 
near  the  road,  which  had  been  measured  by  its  shadow  at  noon, 
and  found  to  be  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  feet  in  height.  For 
more  than  a  hundred  feet  the  stem  rose  straight,  smooth  and 
gray.  Then  three  or  four  spathes  of  flowers,  four  or  five  feet 
long  each,  jutted  out  and  upward  like;  while  from  below  them, 
as  usual,  one  dead  leaf,  twenty  feet  long  or  more,  dangled  head- 
downwards  in  the  breeze.  Above  them  rose,  as  always,  the 
green  jiortion  of  the  stem  for  some  twenty  feet;  and  then  the 
flat  crown  of  feathers,  as  dark  as  yew,  spread  out  against  the 
blue  sky,  looking  small  enough  up  there  though  forty  feet  at 
least  in  breadth.  No  wonder  if  the  man  who  possessed  such  a 
glorious  object  dared  not  destroy  it.*' 

In  the  low,  wet,  rocky  hammocks  the  scrub  or  dwarf  palmetto 
is  abundant.  AVith  consummate  art  nature  thus  hides  her  blem- 
ishes with  a  countless  number  of  palmetto  fans,  brightly  and 
beautifully  adorned  with  "living  green,"  and  supplemented  with 
a  luxuriant  growth  of  flowering  shrubs  and  climbing  vines.  Is 
it  a  croj^ping  out  and  development  of  the  divine  in  woman 
when  she  utilizes  the  fan  to  hide  her  beauties  ?  The  palmetto 
yields  a  fibre,  from  which,  when  reduced  to  a  pulp,  the  strong 
paper  is  made  upon  which  the  bills  of  the  Xational  banks  are 
printed.  An  ingenious  gentleman  in  Washington  has  lately  in- 
vented a  machine  by  which  the  tedious  process  of  crushing  the 
fibre  by  hand  is  avoided. 

Upon  the  i)remises  of  Mr.  Charles  Burnside  we  were  shown  an 
India  rubber  tree — one  of  a  class  which,  thanks  to  American 
genius,  has  proved  iu  modern  times  to  be  of  incalculable  value. 


IKDIAN"   EUBBER   TREE.       SIXGIXG   TREE.  95 

It  has  been  utilized  for  man's  benefit  in  so  many  ways  that  it  has 
become  almost  a  factor  in  the  problem  of  civilized  existence.  As 
a  representative  tree,  filled  with  juices  of  such  great  practical 
value  to  the  whole  civilized  world,  we  approached  it  with  a  feel- 
ing of  reverence  and  of  gratitude.  Like  all  true  merit  it  was 
unostentatious  and  modest,  and  put  on  no  airs.  It  flaunted  no 
gaudy  colors,  while  looking  down  from  its  giddy  elevation  upon  its 
less  gifted  neig-hbors.  It  was  perhaps  as  large  as  a  medium  sized 
maple,  and  its  leaves  were  thick  and  leathery,  resembling  some- 
what those  of  the  magnolia  grandi  flora,  but  of  a  darker  shade, 
and  less  glossy  and  waxy.  When  Mr.  Burnside's  boys  desire 
rubber  balls  they,  hy  tapping  the  tree,  quickly  secure  an  abundance 
of  sap,  which  hardens  into  rubber  upon  being  exposed  to  the  air 
and  sunlight.  Uj^on  the  banks  of  the  Amazon,  where  it  abounds, 
man  is  satisfied  to  simply  live  and  propagate  his  lazy  and  indo- 
lent race,  but  the  stimulus  of  the  crisp  and  frozen  airs  of  north- 
ern climes,  thousands  of  miles  away  from  the  source  of  supply, 
causes  a  demand  that  essentially  aids  in  tlie  development  of  com- 
mercial enterprise — as  Creative  AV'isdom  intended  it  should. 

Several  kinds  of  trees  in  Nassau  mature  their  seeds  like  the 
bean,  in  pods.  One  of  these  has  upon  its  branches  in  the  winter 
season  a  large  number  of  delicate  light-colored,  silvery,  translu- 
cent pods,  about  eight  inches  long,  which,  being  swayed  and 
shaken  by  the  wind,  so  fill  the  air  with  soft,  soothing  music,  that 
the  tree  has  been  called  the  "singing  tree."  Some  sour,  cross, 
crusty  and  ungallant  individual  has  had  the  temerity  to  name  it 
"woman's  tongue" — because  it  is  never  still! 

This  tree  is  of  a  large  size,  and  loses  its  leaves  some  time  after 
it  has  flowered.  Its  blossoms  have  been  described  as  particularly 
beautiful  but  odorless,  resembling  the  finest  floss  silk.  Before 
the  tree  leaves  out,  the  blossoms  hang,  crescent  shaped,  from  the 
top  of  long  stems.  We  arrived  too  late  for  its  flowers,  but  in 
season  for  its  soft  murmuring  music. 


96  ISLES   OF   srMMEK. 

A  northern  person  naturally  looks  for  the  tamarind  upon  tropi- 
cal vines,  but  it  grows  in  green  pods,  in  great  abundance,  upon 
trees  tall  and  widespread.  Xcgroes  frequently  brought  for  sale 
to  the  court  of  the  hotel  a  few  of  the  green  pods.  They  were 
purchased,  not  so  much  for  use,  but  as  objects  of  curiosity, 
although  the  tamarinds,  when  unpreserved,  have  a  pleasant  acid 
taste,  and,  Avith  the  aid  of  sugar,  make  a  palatable  drink.  From 
the  tamarinds  of  commerce  the  pods  are  removed,  but  the  seeds 
are  enveloped  in  a  second  covering,  and  are  connected  together 
with  a  fibrous  string,  as  the  reader  has  no  doubt  observed. 

The  trees  of  the  Bahamas  which  grow  valuable  timber  are 
principally  pitch  pine,  Madeira  mahogany,  horse  flesh  mahogany, 
olive,  cassava,  mastic,  fustic,  cedar,  button,  white  and  black 
torch,  satin  and  lignum  vitas. 

Some  Bahama  trees,  like  the  cinnamon,  are  valuable  for  their 
bark;  others,  like  the  logwood,  for  their  dyes;  while  certain  trees 
and  many  plants  possess  valuable  medicinal  qualities. 

While  at  the  Bahamas,  we  were  more  than  ever  before  im- 
pressed with  tliat  Diviuo  Wisdom  which  pervades,  as  with  a 
living  spirit,  the  most  common  phenomena  of  nature.  If  man 
should  first  observe  them  in  the  maturity  of  his  intellectual  pow- 
ers, he  would  be  lost  and  overwhelmed  in  Avonder  and  astonish- 
ment. In  the  early  dawn  of  his  existence,  before  the  reflecting 
and  reasoning  faculties  are  developed,  he  sees  and  accepts  them 
as  facts,  and  thus  SAvalloAvs  unaAvares  and  Avithout  difficulty, 
whole  caravans  of  camels.  Having  thrived  npon  such  a  diet, 
and  experienced  no  injury  from  his  childish  credulity,  it  seems 
foolish,  in  the  later  stages  of  life,  to  wrench  and  strain  himself 
over  the  little  troublesome  gnats  that  float,  like  moats  in  sun- 
beams, in  an  atmosphere  mysterious  and  apparently  supernatural. 

Living  upon  the  same  meagre  diet  of  rock,  water,  air  and  sun- 
shine— and  npon  nothing  else — it  seems  incredible  that  the  small 


MYSTERIES   PROFOUJs'D    iy[   THE    XATURAL.  97 

islands  constituting  the  Bahama  group  should  produce  forms  of 
vegetable  life  so  widely  dissimilar  and  infinitely  varied.  Nature 
has  provided  but  one  table,  with  a  bill  of  fare  exceedingly  short 
and  simple,  for  all  the  wondrous  display  of  fruits  and  flowers  and 
forests  which  these  islands  exhibit — a  table  which  must,  to  the 
rampant  growers,  look  very  discouraging.  In  the  valleys  and  deep 
rich  soils  of  the  river  bottoms  in  the  United  States,  the  observer 
naturally  concludes  that  the  vegetable  commissary  department 
is  in  quantity,  quality  and  variety,  on  a  scale  corresponding  with 
the  magnificent  floral  world  which  it  supports.  But  with  a  soil 
nearly  as  scant  as  that  which  is  found  upon  the  Belgian  pave- 
ments of  northern  city  streets,  the  miracle  of  producing  much 
out  of  nothing  is  performed  under  our  eyes. 

Roots  creep  over  the  rocks  and  penetrate  their  crevices  and 
crannies,  searching  and  collecting  materials  for  the  green,  pol- 
ished, waxen  leaves — the  pure,  white,  and  exquisitely  perfumed 
flowers — the  golden  balls  and  delicious  pulp  of  the  orange. 
Near  them  are  other  roots  entwined  among  and  persistently 
pushing  into  the  little  pockets  of  the  same  and  similar  rocks, 
and,  by  an  inexplicable  alchemy,  obtaining  from  them  nutriment 
for  the  growth  of  the  tall  stately  stem,  the  large  and  graceful 
plume,  the  dry  husks,  the  hard  shells,  the  soft  and  palatable 
pulp,  and  the  cool,  sweet  milk  of  the  cocoanut  palm.  In  like 
manner  the  sapodilla,  with  its  russet  apples  of  "  sugared  honey  " 
— the  long,  large  leaved,  branchless  banana,  feather-crested  like 
the  palm,  with  its  large,  pendent,  purple  fruit  bud  at  the  end 
of  a  long  drooping  stem,  around  which  its  gloved  ambrosial 
fruit  is  thickly  clustered — the  lime,  the  lemon,  the  pawpaw 
the  pine  apple,  the  guava,  the  star  apple,  the  bread  fruit,  the 
shaddock,  the  mango,  the  date,  tlie  almond,  the  sweet  sup,  the 
sour  sap,  the  fig,  plums  of  different  kinds,  and  many  other 
fruit-bearing  and  other  trees,  each,  from  lowest  root  to  topmost 

9 


OS  ISLES  OP  SFMMEE. 

branch,  having  its  own  marked  and  Avidely  dissimilar  charac- 
teristics and  qualities,  fasten  to  the  same  common  rock  and 
eliminate  and  perfect  their  juices  out  of  the  same  scanty  and 
most  unpromising  materials.  So  also  with  the  flowering  shrubs 
and  vines, — a  world  of  itself,  teeming  with  blooms  in  unending, 
variety,  radiant  with  every  shade  of  color,  and  redolent  with 
unnumbered  perfumes  of  marvelous  sweetness, — upon  the  outer 
margins  of  which  we  stand  appalled,  and  lay  down  our  descrip- 
tive pen,  conscious  that  we  cannot  do  it  justice. 

How  such  wondrous  growths  are  rendered  jjossible  upon  islands 
so  destitute  of  the  rich  fertilizing  elements  which  are  deemed 
necessary  for  the  proper  development  of  vegetable  life  at  the 
North,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  or  conceive,  and  we  are  com- 
pelled to  fall  back  upon  that  Divine  fiat,  whose  faint  murmurs, 
recorded  in  Genesis,  come  to  us  through  the  dim  shadows  of  a 
past  that  shroud  the  mysterious  beginnings  of  time. 


CHAPTEE  VI. 

Fruits  and  Flowers  of  the  Bahamas.  Fruit  in  the  Bills  of  Fare.  Special 
Notice  of  the  OraJirje,  the  Banana,  the  Pine  Apple,  the  Sapodilla,  the  Cocoa- 
nut,  the  Hog  Plum,  the  Shaddock,  and  the  Forbidden  Fruit.  The  Flowering 
Trees,  Shrubs  and  Vines. 

"Pomona  bore  me  to  her  citron  groves, 
To  where  the  lemon  and  the  piercing  lime, 
With  the  deep  orange  glowing  through  the  green, 
Their  varied  glories  blend."— Thompson. 

"Gorgeous  flowrets  in  the  sunlight  shining. 
Blossoms  flaunting  in  the  eye  of  day, 
Tremulous  leaves,  with  soft  and  silver  lining, 
Buds  that  open  only  to  decay." 

Whether  we  adopt  the  theory  that  nature  has  stocked  the 
earth  with  hiscioiis  fruits  for  man's  benefit,  or  created  man  for  the 
benefit  of  the  fruit,  and  to  secure  its  more  perfect  development 
from  the  sour,  crabbed,  wild,  unseemly,  primitive  condition,  in 
which,  when  uncultivated,  it  exists,  avc  must  admit  that  fruit  is 
an  important,  if  not  an  essential  factor,  in  the  problem  of  the 
health  and  happiness  of  the  human  race.  At  all  stages,  and  in 
all  conditions  of  life,  man  craves  and  requires  the  ripened  fruits 
in  their  season.  One  of  the  pleasures  incident  to  visiting  foreign 
lands  arises  from  the  opportunity  which  is  thus  afforded  to  pluck 
and  eat  them  in  their  freshness  and  maturity.  In  these  days  of 
rapid  transit  by  sea  and  land,  Avhen  the  ends  and  distant  corners 
of  the  earth  are  brought  together,  and  space  is  almost  annihilated. 


100  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

SO  that  oranges  in  our  cities  are  nearly  as  cheap  and  plenty  as 
apples,  it  is  less  necessary  to  visit  the  lands  where  they  are  indig- 
enous, or  in  which  they  have  become  naturalized,  in  order  to 
enjoy  their  beauty  of  color,  delicious  fragrance,  and  exquisite 
flavor.  But  some  fruits  are  too  delicate  and  destitute  of  keeping 
qualities  to  admit  of  ex^oortation  to  distant  lands.  Others  are 
taken  from  the  trees  before  they  are  fully  ripe,  and  never  acquire 
on  shipboard  or  in  northern  markets  the  perfection  which  only 
the  tropical  sun  and  air  can  impart.  Besides,  a  tropical  orchard 
loaded  with  fruit,  some  in  all  stages  of  development  from  flower 
to  fruit,  is  a  most  charming  sight,  and  alone  compensates  for  the 
discomforts  and  fatigues  of  a  long  journey.  Each  member  of 
the  whole  citrus  family  must  be  seen  at  its  home  to  be  fully  aj)- 
preciated.  Boxes,  barrels  and  baskets  are  a  very  poor  substitute 
for  the  waxen  and  varnished  leaves  in  which  the  golden  balls 
nestle  by  thousands  in  the  closely  compacted  tree  toj^s. 

In  Nassau,  as  well  as  in  Florida,  oranges  and  bananas  and 
other  tropical  fruits  have  a  prominent  place,  in  their  season,  in 
the  breakfast  and  dinner  bills  of  fare.  Every  morning  at  the 
Victoria  Hotel,  with  some  few  exceptions,  as  soon  as  we  had 
taken  our  seats  at  the  breakfast  table,  there  was  placed  before 
us  a  large  fruit  dish  filled  with  oranges  and  bananas,  together 
with  a  bill  of  fare,  a  pencil  and  a  slip  of  paper.  After  making 
out  and  giving  to  our  neatly  dressed,  polite,  and  generally  effi- 
cient table  servant,  our  breakfast  order,  the  fruit,  regaled  and  con- 
soled us  while  our  breakfast  was  being  prepared.  With  the  fruit 
dish  before  us,  there  was  no  limit  to  our  indulgence  except  that 
which  appetite  and  a  wise  discretion  imposed.  We  found  the 
Bahama  oranges  of  good  size,  and  excellent  flavor,  a  trifle  sAveeter 
than  those  of  Florida,  owing,  we  conclude,  to  the  fact  that  they 
matured  and  ripened  in  a  warmer  climate.  The  bananas  were 
of  a  superior  quality.     After  the  long  fast  of  the  night,  the  rich. 


sub-acid  juices  of  the  former  were  particularly  agreeable  and  grate- 
ful. They  soothed  and  gratified  the  nerves  of  taste^  took  away 
tlie  rough  edges  of  appetite,  and  prepared  the  stomach  for  the 
heavier  work  it  Avas  soon  to  be  called  upon  to  perform.  At  din- 
ner the  same  thing  was  repeated,  except  that  the  order  was  re- 
versed, and  the  tempting  dish  of  golden  and  yellow  fruit  came 
to  stimulate  the  appetite  after  it  had  been  subjected  to  the  tempt- 
ing influences  of  along  and  varied  bill  of  fare.  It  does  not  take 
a  great  while  for  these  agreeable  customs  to  become  deeply  and 
firmly  rooted.  Oranges  to  daily  break  our  fast  in  the  morning, 
and  delightfully  crown  our  afternoon  meal,  are  felt  to  be  a  neces- 
sity.    Without  them  the  most  elaborate  feast  fails  to  satisfy. 

'New  Providence  relies  upon  Abaco  for  a  very  material  part  of 
the  oranges  which  its  market  requires,  and  in  the  spring  of  1879 
our  landlord  imported  some  from  Florida,  and  yet  the  island 
abounds  with  wild,  waste  land  and  idle  people. 

The  banana  resembles  the  pear  in  this,  that  its  quality  is  im- 
proved when  it  ripens  dissevered.  The  long  stem,  thickly 
covered  with  fruit  in  various  stages  of  development,  hangs  pen- 
dent, with  a  large  purple  terminal  bud,  which  constantly  ma- 
tures rings  of  fruit  blossoms  as  it  grows  and  gravitates  towards 
the  earth,  with  its  leaves — narrow,  very  long,  green  and  grace- 
fully drooping, — rising  from  a  green  sheath,  is  beautiful  to 
behold,  and  its  novelty  never  wore  off,  so  that  almost  daily  we 
had  to  stop  and  admire  it.  Our  readers  are  all  familiar  with 
this  fruit,  for  it  is  in  New  York  and  in  other  northern  cities 
what  it  is  in  and  near  the  tropics;  its  habit  of  growth,  aside 
from  its  large  and  beautiful  terminal  bud,  is  readily  seen  in  the 
bunches  so  extensively  exhibited  wherever  at  the  north  southern 
fruits  are  offered  for  sale. 

The  opinion  we  heard  frequently  expressed  that  the  banana  is 
unhealthy.     Some  assured  us  that  it  always  distressed  them  when 


10$  Isles  of  summer. 

they  ate  it.  Others  indulged  in  its  use  freely  and  with  apparent 
impunity.  We  were  at  first  very  incredulous  when  stories  reached 
us  seriously  reflecting  upon  it  as  a  disguised  enemy  of  the  human 
stomach  and  constitution.  We  gave  it  our  confidence,  and  also 
room  very  near  to  our  hearts.  We  defended  it  to  the  best  of 
our  ability,  with  zeal  if  not  with  knowledge.  We  said  it  was  an 
impeachment  of  Divine  Providence  to  allege  that  its  golden  links 
of  most  delicious  sweetness — so  tempting  to  the  four  senses — 
sight,  touch,  taste  and  smell — were  indigestible,  health-destroy- 
ing, deceitful  and  bad.  But  Ave  began  finally,  to  have  doubts, 
and  at  last  thought  we  perceived  after  eating  them,  an  unpleas- 
ant sensation  right  in  the  center  of  one  of  our  seats  of  happiness. 
We  inquired  concerning  it  of  physicians,  and  found,  as  in  other 
cases  where  experts  testifv,  that  they  widely  and  materially  dif- 
fered. Very  reluctantly  and  Avith  some  misgivings,  we  are  com- 
pelled to  admit,  that,  being  plucked  when  quite  green,  for  that 
or  some  other  reason,  it  does  not  agree  Avith  all,  and  in  many 
cases  is  injurious  to  health,  yet  the  banana  is  said  to  be  ''exten- 
sively used  for  food,  and  in  many  of  the  Pacific  islands  it  is  the 
staple  on  which  the  natives  depend.  In  its  immature  condition, 
it  contains  much  starch  which  on  ripening  changes  into  sugar. 
*  *  *  From  the  unripe  fruit,  dried  in  the  sun,  a  useful  and  nutri- 
tious flour  is  prepared." — [British  Encyclopedia.]  It  Avoijld  seem 
from  the  published  analysis  of  the  fruit,  and  of  the  flour  made 
from  it,  that  it  must  generally  be  a  healthy  article  of  diet  for 
healthy  people,  and  our  advice,  if  asked,  Avould  be  that  once  given 
to  us  by  a  skillful  and  experienced  physician — ''eat  of  it,  if  3'ou 
like,  until  you  ascertain  by  your  personal  experience  that  to  you 
it  is  hurtful.*' 

The  banana  is  an  herbaceous  plant,  and,  after  fruiting,  its  top 
dies,  but  it  annually  sprouts  again  from  its  roots.  It  attains  a 
height  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet,  and  its  curved  and  droop- 
ing leaves  have  a  Avidth  of  from  one  to  two  feet. 


PINE   APPLES.  103 

Among  the  tropical  fruits  that  we  were  always  pleased  to  give 
house  room  in  the  frozen  north,  was  the  pine  apple,  and  now  that 
we  were  upon  one  of  its  native  rocks,  or  upon  rocks  where  it  had 
become  thoroughly  naturalized,  we  had  a  desire  to  see  for  our- 
selves the  manner  of  its  cultivation,  and  the  processes  and  stages 
of  its  growth  and  development.  Our  curiosity  was  gratified  in 
the  following  manner: 

In  going  to  the  caves  in  the  Blue  Hills  we  took  the  shore 
road,  or  the  extension  of  Bay  street  to  the  west,  and  skirted  for 
several  miles  Delaport  Bay — a  body  of  water  which  Silver,  Long, 
and  North  Keys,  with  their  connecting  submerged  reefs,  shelter 
from  the  ocean,  and  which  as  you  approach  Nassau,  after  cross- 
ing its  bar,  stretches  away  to  the  right.  Passing  the  caves  nearest 
to  the  highway,  we  ascended  a  little  hill,  turned  abruptly  to  the 
left,  followed  for  a  few  rods  a  carriage  road  through  the  dense 
low  woods,  and,  leaving  our  carriages  near  some  small  negro 
cabins,  and  following  our  very  dusky  guides,  started  on  a  foot- 
path for  the  more  extensive  caverns  which  hide  in  the  hill  from 
half  to  three-quarters  of  a  mile  further  to  the  east.  The  trail 
led  us  through  the  center  of  a  pine  apple  field  which  covered 
fifteen  acres.  It  was  termed  an  "  orchard,"  but  there  was  no- 
thing in  its  appearance  suggestive  of  such  a  name.  We  found 
it  humble,  lowly  and  modest.  It  put  on  no  airs,  and  evidently 
had  no  ambition  to  occupy  a  conspicuous  position  and  make  a 
show  in  the  world.  This  West  India  "  apple  "  does  not  grow  in 
clusters  like  the  cocoanut,  nor  upon  high,  wide  branching  trees 
like  its  northern  namesake — but  singly  upon  plants  which  attain 
an  average  height  of  about  one  and  a-half  feet.  The  lowly  plant 
has  long  narrow  leaves  or  fronds,  hard,  thick,  coarse,  bayonet- 
shaped,  and  with  sharp  scrretcd  edges.  A  single  fruit  stem 
pushes  up  from  the  center  of  the  root,  blossoms,  and  in  about 
eighteen  months  from'  the  time  of  planting  matures  a  single 


104  ISLES  OF  sumn:s. 

ajiple.  One  plant,  producing  one  api^le  at  a  time,  "will  continue 
to  yield  an  annual  crop  for  three  or  four  years.  There  are  three 
vurieties;  the  Hugar  Loaf,  which  is  juicy,  of  excellent  flavor, 
and  excels  the  others  in  keeping  qualities ;  the  Cuba,  which  is 
of  larger  size,  firni3r  texture,  and  less  sweet  than  the  sugai  loaf 
and  commands  a  higher  price ;  the  Blnl's-eye,  the  cultivation 
of  which  has  been  pretty  much  abandoned  because  of  the  de- 
struction of  the  crop  by  rats  and  land-crabs.  Gov.  Eawson  states 
that  of  a  forty  acre  field  of  the  sugar  loaf  variety,  the  rats  de- 
stroyed 6000  dozen,  or  one-third  of  an  annual  crop.  Land- 
crabs,  he  says,  "like  locusts  elsewhere,  march  straight  through 
a  field  and  consume  all  the  fruit  in  their  course." 

It  is  raised  from  slips — 2000  dozen  of  the  sugar  loaf,  and  1600 
dozen  of  the  Cuba  to  an  acre.  In  the  '^  orchard  "we  crossed, 
the  cocoanut  had  been  planted  among  the  pines  so  as  to  insure 
a  cocoanut  grove  when  the  pines  ceased  bearing.  The  rocky  sur- 
face was  covered  and  concealed  by  the  pines,  and  in  ''clearing  " 
the  plantation,  (they  evidently  could  not  if  they  would  hoe  it), 
it  is  said  '"'the  laborers  are  obliged  to  wear  canvas  leggings  and 
gauntlets  to  protect  them  from  the  spines  of  the  leaves."  Gov. 
Eawson  says,  the  fields  are  "or  ought  to  be  cleaned  six  times  in 
the  year."  He  states  also  that  the  average  weight  of  the  sugar 
loaf  is  three  pounds,  that  it  yields  one-third  of  the  quantity 
planted,  and  lasts  five  years ;  that  the  Cuba  has  an  average 
weight  of  three  and  a-lialf  pounds,  yields  one-half  of  the  quan- 
tity planted,  lasts  only  three  years,  and  will  thrive  upon  soil 
considered  unsuited  for  the  other  varieties ;  also  that  the  Cuba 
is  preferred  in  the  United  States,  and  that  the  sugar  loaf,  by 
reason  of  its  superior  keeping  qualities,  is  preferred  for  the 
English  market ;  that  it  is  uncertain  whether  the  pine  apple 
is  a  native  of  the  Bahama  Islands,  or  has  been  introduced  from 
the  Windward  Islands  or  Cuba ;  that  the  value  of  229,226  dozen 


PINE   APPLES.      SAPODILLAS.  105 

exported  in  1864  was  £21,299 — which  makes  tliem  average  about 
four  cents  a  piece;  tliat  in  sliipping  the  pine  to  the  United 
States  it  is  stripped  of  every  tiling  but  its  head,  while  the  whole 
plant  was  formerly  sent  to  England,  the  leaves  and  shoots  being 
Avrapped  round  the  fruit  to  keep  it  fresh,  but  that  since  1858 
only  the  shoots  are  left  on  the  stalks  ;  that  the  fruit  is  arranged 
in  tiers,  great  attention  being  paid  to  ventilation;  the  hatches  are 
left  open  during  the  voyage  ;  serious  losses  often  occur  on  ship- 
board arising  from  exceptionally  bad  weather  and  long  voyages, 
as  well  as  from  other  causes.  The  shoots  are  used  for  new  plan- 
tations, and  as  these  are  sent  with  the  apples  to  England  the 
price  is  for  that  reason  increased.  There  are  two  annual  cut- 
tings: the  Cuba  is  cut  early  in  May  and  late  in  June,  and  the 
sugar  loaf  from  the  1st  to  the  20th  of  June,  and  in  July  and 
August.  As  in  1879  and  also  in  1880  we  left  the  Bahamas  in 
April,  much  to  our  regret  we  were  unable  to  test  the  quality 
of  pine  apples  fully  ripened  in  the  field. 

The  sapodilla  is  very  abundant  and  cheap  in  Nassau.  The 
tree  is  large  and  is  a  good  bearer.  The  fruit  is  of  a  uniform  dull 
dark  broAvn  color,  and  almost  unpromising  in  its  outward  ap- 
pearance as  a  cocoanut.  Its  skin  is  very  thin,  its  flesh  yellow, 
soft  and  sweet,  its  shape  oval,  and  its  diameter  from  two  to  three 
inches.  A  taste  for  it  has  to  be  acquired,  so  that  while  it  is  dis- 
carded by  the  many,  the  few  strangers  who  have  learned  to  love 
it,  esteem  it  very  highly.  It  is  conceded  to  be  a  very  healthy 
fruit.  We  saw  but  two  varieties.  Some  specimens  of  the  fruit 
in  size,  flavor,  and  richness  of  the  coloring  of  the  flesh,  were  very 
much  superior  to  those  offered  ordinarily  for  sale. 

The  cocoanut  is  cultivated  in  the  Bahamas,  and  thrives  in  some 
parts  of  New  Providence.  Gov.  Eawson  includes  it  in  a  table 
containing  the  names  of  twenty-three  varieties  of  fruit  which 
were  growing  upon  the  Bahamas  in  1864,  and  which  he  claimed 


106  ISLES   OF  SUMMER. 

were  indigenous.  Others,  however,  think  that  it  is  an  exotic. 
Upon  general  principles  we  should,  in  the  absence  of  positive 
testimony  to  the  contrary,  incline  to  the  Governor's  opinion. 

It  flourishes  best  in  the  vicinity  of  salt  water,  and  is  found  up- 
on most  of  the  inhabited  islands  all  over  the  ocean  world  within 
and  near  the  tropics.  It  is,  perhaps,  God's  most  valuable  gift  to 
the  people  inhabiting  not  only  almost  innumerable  islands,  but 
large  portions  of  the  main  land.  Every  part  of  it  ministers  very 
materially  to  man's  wants.  The  milk  and  meat  of  its  fruit  con- 
stitute a  considerable  part  of  the  food  of  the  people  who  bask  in 
its  shade  or  live  where  it  grows.  In  the  island  of  Ceylon  (it  is 
credibly  stated)  the  wealth  of  men  is  estimated  by  the  number  of 
cocoanut  trees  which  they  own. 

This  one  fruit  of  itself  furnishes  full  and  ample  evidence,  to 
an  observing  and  thoughtful  mind,  of  the  existence  and  good- 
ness of  God.  Having  made  it,  and  in  so  many  ways  fitted  it  to 
supply  the  prime  necessaries  of  human  life  in  those  parts  of  the 
world  where  frosts  are  unknown,  He  has  provided  in  a  most  won- 
derful way  for  its  preservation  and  propagation.  Wrapjoed  up 
in  a  shell  so  hard  aud  impervious  that  it  is  carried  a  thousand 
miles  and  more  for  the  purpose  of  holding  the  cool  water  brought 
to  the  earth's  surface  in  "  the  old  oaken  bucket  that  hangs  in  the 
well,"  we  find  the  life-germ  from  which  it  is  developed.  Around 
that  shell  are  placed  and  compacted  innumerable  threads  which 
require,  when  dry,  the  aid  of  an  axe  to  detach  them  from  the 
treasure  they  so  persistently  guard.  Around  these  wrappings 
there  is  another  hard  vegetable  shield,  wisely  designed  and  curi- 
ously made,  and  the  whole  is  so  wonderfully  contrived  and  ad- 
justed that  it  will  float  safely  for  months  upon  the  ocean  in  calm 
or  storm,  secure  from  molestation  by  reason  of  its  outward  des- 
titution of  comeliness,  flavor  and  fragrance,  from  any  of  the 
hungry  and  voracious  monsters  of  the  deep,  until,  at  last,  some 


COCOANUTS.      THE  HOG   PLtM.      THE  SHADl^OCft.  lOt 

huge,  angry  mountain  wave  hurls  it,  as  if  in  anger,  a  seemingly 
useless  thing,  high  upon  the  land,  where,  when  the  fingers  of 
decay  have  sufficiently  loosened  the  strings  and  hard  envelopes 
which  have  so  securely  confined  and  guarded  it,  the  enclosed 
life-germ  sends  down  its  little  rootlets  into  the  congenial  soil,  a 
vigorous  stem  pushes  up  into  the  air  and  the  sunshine,  as  if,  like 
a  little  Columbus,  to  learn  Avhat  sort  of  a  new  world  it  has  finally 
landed  upon  after  its  long  sea  voyage.  From  this  little  and  un- 
jiromising  beginning,  on  many  an  ocean  isle,  the  invaluable  and 
graceful  cocoanut  palm  has  multiplied  and  extended,  and  made 
it  possible  for  man  to  live  and  flourish  in  comparative  idleness, 
with  few  substantial  wants  that  the  cocoanut  cannot  abundantly 
supply. 

Upon  Mr.  Charles  Burnside's  grounds  we  saw  a  "■  hog  plumb  " 
tree  with  a  plentiful  supply  o±  small,  green  fruit  in  clusters  upon 
the  branches — but  not  a  leaf  in  sight.  The  juices  are  not  in  this 
instance  perfected  in  the  leaves  for  the  growth  of  the  fruit. 

The  shaddock  was  there  with  its  large  glossy  leaves,  and  per- 
fumed the  air  with  its  white  blossoms.  The  misletoe  had  estab- 
lished itself  upon  its  branches,  and,  as  if  lineally  descended  from 
the  old  Nassau  pirates,  flourished  upon  the  rich  sap  it  had  done 
nothing  to  eliminate.  Both  the  shaddock  and  the  grape  fruit 
belong  with  the  orange,  lime  and  lemon,  to  the  citrus  family. 
The  former  is  sometimes  over  two  feet,  and  the  grape  fruit  over 
one  foot  in  circumference.  Almond  trees,  large  and  beautiful, 
Avcrc  just  leafing  out.  Mr.  Burnside  showed  us  also,  the  ''  For- 
bidden Fruit"  tree,  and  we  would  willingly  have  followed  the 
example  of  Adam  and  Eve,  and  tested  the  quality  of  its  sweet 
fruit,  if  we  had  bad  an  opportunity  to  do  so,  even  at  the  risk  of 
being  forever  banished  from  the  pleasant  fruit  garden  where  it 
was  growing. 

Gov.  Rawson  states  in  his  report,  that  "  The  soil  and  climate 


10^ 


ISLES   OF  PinrMER. 


of  the  Bahamas  are  admirably  adapted  for  all  tropical  and  semi- 
tropical  fruits."  His  table  of  those  which  are  indigenous  em- 
braces the  following:  the  sapodilla,  cashew,  pine  apple,  sweet- 
sap,  sour-sap,  papaw,  sour  orange,  lemon,  star-apple,  cocoa  plum, 
cocoa  nut,  seaside  grape,  water  melon,  mamee,  plantain,  banana, 
love-in-a-mist,  guava,  Spanish  hog  plum,  hog  plum,  scarlet  hog 
plum,  tamarind,  and  wild  grape. 

"The  luscious  fruits,  which  of  their  own  accord 
The  willing  ground,  and  laden  trees  afford." 

The  following,  he  states,  luive  been  introdueod  at  different 
times:  the  Jamaica  (custard)  ajiple,  ground  nut,  bread  fruit, 
ackee,  citron,  orange  [citrus  aurautlum),  mandarin  orange  {cit- 
rus (lecumana),  two  species  of  shaddock,  lime,  rose  apple,  fig, 
mangoe,  avocado  pear,  pomegranate,  date,  balsam  apple,  mul- 
])erry,  broad-leafed  almond,  grapo  and  jujube. 

In  Nassau,  as  elsewhere,  every  month  has  its  own  special  and 
peculiar  floral  display,  although  many  flowers  continue  from 
month  to  month  to  unfold  their  blossoms.  Some  varieties  of 
indigenous  flowers  are  always  to  be  found  in  the  wild  and  tangled 
woods.  The  ladies,  returning  from  their  rides  near  the  close  of 
day,  generally  bring  with  them  the  curious  growths  of  tree,  and 
shrub,  and  vine,  which  nature  has  spontaneously  produced  and 
scattered  with  lavish  profusion  on  every  hand.  The  flowers  are 
massed  in  trees  and  ambushed  in  thickets.  Here  a  flowering 
vine  festoons  a  wayside  tree  Avith  garlands  of  beauty,  and  reaches 
out  for  a  caress  as  the  stranger  rides  by;  Avhile  there,  from  their 
little  many-hued  censers,  flowers  of  more  rank  and  stately  growth 
shed  upon  him  their  sweet  tributary  incanse.  One  soon  is  com- 
pelled to  adopt  as  his  own,  the  enthusiastic  sentiment  of  the 
charmed  poet  who  sings: 


IKDIGEXOUS   FLOWERS.  109 

"Were  I,  O  God,  in  churchlcss  lands  remaining, 
Far  from  all  voice  of  teachers  or  divines, 
My  soul  would  find  in  flowers  of  thy  ordaining, 
Priests,  sermons,  shrines." 

The  following  extracts  from  "Letters  from  the  Bahama 
Islands,"  written  by  an  American  lady  in  1823-4,  give  an  account 
of  some  of  the  more  prominent  flowers  to  be  seen  in  Nassau  and 
its  suburbs. 

"  The  indigenous  plants  and  flowers,  and  flowering  shrubs  are 
abundant  and  beautiful;  and,  it  is  said,  there  are  five  thousand 
varieties.  I  am  very  fond  of  the  mignonette  tree;  it  bears  pale 
yellow  and  green  flowers,  and  has  the  most  powerful  and  delicious 
fragrance.  The  acacia  is  very  different  from  that  of  the  same 
name  with  us;  the  flower  is  a  little,  round,  yellow  ball,  about 
the  size  of  a  chestnut,  looks  like  a  tuft  of  fringe,  and  is  filled 
with  a  yellow  powder  and  has  a  sweet  j)erfume.  The  blossom  of 
the  mahogany  tree  is  beautiful,  and  so  is  the  yellow  and  crimson 
flower  fence  or  Barbadoe's  pride.  The  coral  tree  is  very  curious; 
the  flower  looks  like  a  bunch  of  red,  cut  coral,  and  grows  at  the 
top  of  the  branch  distinct  from  any  leaves;  the  stem,  which  is 
five  or  six  inches  long,  stands  perfectly  erect,  and,  though  beau- 
tiful, it  is  ungraceful.  The  coral  vino  bears  a  blossom  of  the 
same  color  and  shape,  find  runs  in  wild  profusion  over  all  the 
stone  walls  and  hedges,  but  has  no  odor.  Myrtles,  jessamines, 
tuberoses,  and  roses,  the  amaryllis  of  every  species,  the  convolvu- 
lus, the  sensitive  plant,  and  Arabian  jasmine,  ar§  seen  in  every 
direction,  and  grow  wild  among  the  rocks.  Groves  of  the  olean- 
der are  very  common,  and,  prized  as  they  are  with  you,  are 
thought  almost  vulgar  here,  as  well  as  the  beautiful  south-sea 
rose.  The  mutable  rose  is  a  native  of  this  climate;  the  bignonia 
bears  a  yellow  trumpet  flower;  the  blue  passion  flower,  which 

10 


110  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

hides  its  head  among  chisters  of  dark  green  leaves,  is  one  of  my 
favorite  flowers.  *  *  *  The  yellow  jessamine,  and  a  variety 
of  flowering  myrtles,  fill  the  air  Avith  their  perpetnal  fragrance. 
*  *  *  I  have  seen  the  sweet  briar  and  the  multiflora  rose  in 
blossom,  growing  very  luxuriantly." 

*'  The  bayonet  plant  is  properly  named  for  its  leaves  are  thick 
and  sharp  like  those  of  the  aloes,  and  point  upwards  like  those 
of  the  pine  apple  ;  it  grows  about  thirty  feet  high,  and  forms  an 
imj^enetrable  hedge.  From  the  center  of  the  leaves,  directly  on 
the  top,  bursts  a  stem  about  two  feet  long  which  is  thickly  cov- 
ered with  dazzling  white  flowers,  the  size  and  shape  of  a  crown 
imperial ;  the  inside  of  the  calyx  is  of  a  pale  yellow,  and  hun- 
dreds of  these  little  bells  hanging  downwards,  cover  the  stem, 
and  the  whole  is  two  or  three  feet  in  circumference.  It  has  the 
most  powerful  and  oppressive  fragrance.  The  flower  of  the 
cocoanut  is  very  beautiful.  There  is  no  end  to  the  variety  of 
pretty  flowering  vines  and  shrubs  which  sjjread  forth  their  rain- 
bow colored  flowers  to  charm  the  eye,  and  mingle  their  spicy 
odors  with  the  soft  winds  to  delight  the  senses.  The  coffee  and 
cotton  trees  are  not  very  numerous,  but  the  air  is  eternally 
filled  with  the  fragrance  of  the  orange,  lemon  and  mahogany 
blossoms.  There  is  a  wonderful  variety  of  medicinal  plants  here, 
and  almost  every  leaf  affords  a  panacea  for  some  disease." 

Oleanders  are  very  common  and  grow  to  a  large  size.  They 
adorn  many  homesteads,  but  lose  something  of  their  value  by 
reason  of  their  great  abundance.  They  continued  in  bloom  dur- 
ing all  the  time  we  remained  in  Nassau;  the  blossoms  of  some 
were  white,  others  pink,  and  others  a  dark  red  color.  A  prickly 
pear  species  of  cactus  of  a  vigorous,  large,  rank  growth,  is  also 
found  upon  the  island,  and  is  in  many  localities  very  abundant. 
A  large,  exquisitely  beautiful,  plume-like  and  delicate  blossom, 
called  the  shell  plant,  was  frequently  offered  for  sale  in  the  court 


FLOWERS.  Ill 

of  the  hotel,  and  was  greatly  admired.  Colored  girls  daily  fre- 
quented the  court  well  supplied  with  beautiful  boquets  of  flowers 
of  various  kinds,  and  particularly  of  roses,  to  give  to  their  friends 
whose  good  will  they  wished  to  cultivate,  or  to  exchange  for  the 
money  of  the  strangers.  There  is  also  to  be  seen  a  beautiful 
running  vine  Avhich  blooms  about  Christmas  time,  and  for  that 
reason  is  called  the  Christmas  flower.  It  is  not  a  favorite  with 
the  agriculturists  of  Nassau  because  of  its  rank  and  persistent 
growth. 

Occupying  conspicuous  places  in  the  flower  borders  in  front  of 
the  hotel  were  large  clusters  of  rank  growing  lillies,  whose  bells, 
suspended  upon  long  stems,  with  silent  eloquence  spoke  to  the 
mind  and  rang  out  peals  of  perfume  upon  the  surrounding  air. 
They  also  grow  wild  upon  the  island.  We  were  surprised  to  learn 
that  the  healing  balm  of  which  squills  are  composed  is  obtained 
from  the  bulbous  roots  of  this  species  of  lilly.  The  little  negroes 
are  accustomed  to  steal  these  and  other  flowers  belonging  to  the 
hotel  before  they  have  time  to  fully  mature,  and  with  as  inno- 
cent a  look  as  they  can  command,  offer  them  at  the  court  of  the 
hotel  for  sale.  But  while  fully  appreciating  the  delicious  per- 
fumes that  gave  such  a  charm  to  the  soothing  air,  and  the  end- 
less variety  in  form,  habit  of  growth  and  color  of  the  flowers, 
we  could  not  at  times  refrain  from  unfavorably  contrastino-  the 
animal  life  of  the  Bahamas,  with  their  flora,  and  to  harbor  the 
thought  which  one  of  Shenstone's  stanzas,  slightly  altered,  ex- 
presses : 

"Boast,  favored  islands,  boast  thy  flowery  stores, 
Thy  thousand  hues  by  chomic  suns  refined, 
'Tis  n  c  the  dress  or  mien  the  soul  adores, 
But  the  rich  beauties  of  the  immortal  mind." 

The  floral  display  upon  the  islands  and  in  Florida  was  less 


113  ISLES  OF  SUMMEK. 

abundant  and  brilliant  tlian  usual  in  the  early  part  of  the  year 
1879,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  season  Avas  exceptionally 
dry. 


<       < 


« :  f! 


il'll 


CHAPTER  VIL 

The  Soothing  Languid  Air  and  its  Consequences.  Ambition  Dies.  The 
Bahamas  not  Included  in  the  Primal  Curse.  The  Island  of  Indolence. 
Soothed  Sharks.  Lazy  Air  and  Blood  Putting  Insect  Plagues  to  Sleep. 
Mice  and  Men  alike  Affected.  A  Large  Fish  Story.  Sea  Turtles  Besigiied  to 
their  Fate.  Negroes  Contented  and  Happy.  Good  Order  in  Nassau.  How 
a  Millenium  can  be  Secured.  Agricultural  and  Manufacturing  Industry  not 
Booted  in  the  Bocks.  Sugar  Making.  Small  Islands  Unfavorable  to  Intellect- 
ual Development. 

"Not  poppy,  nor  mandragora, 
Nor  all  the  drowsy  syrups  of  the  world 
Shall  ever  medicine  thee  to  such  sweet  sleep." — Shakespeaee. 

The  Bahama  air  is  very  soothing,  and  soon  makes  itself  felt 
upon  nerves  that  are  sensitive,  disordered  or  unstrung.  It  en- 
ervates like  an  o]:)iute,  and  the  newly  arrived  stranger  soon  suc- 
cumbs to  its  influence.  It  is  difficult  to  do  anything  in  the 
warm  and  languid  air,  when  not  overcome  by  sleep,  but  muse 
and  dream.  It  is  very  entertaining  to  observe  the  new  comers 
from  the  states  when  a  passenger  steamer  arrives.  They  step  so 
quick,  and  talk  so  fast,  and  inquire  so  earnestly,  and  commence 
so  soon  to  crowd  an  immense  amount  of  walking,  riding  and 
sailing  into  a  single  day,  economising  time,  and  drawing  upon 
their  capital  of  latent  strength  and  vitality  as  though  in  vigor 
and  endurance  they  were  millionaires.  The  amount  of  sight- 
seeing they  accomplish  in  two  or  three  days  is  astonishing.  But 
in  less  than  a  week  the  warm  air  takes  all  the  frost  out  of  them, 
and  wilted,  languid  and  limpsy,  they  loll,  and  lounge  and  loaf 

113 


114  ISLES  OP  SUMMfiR. 

in  the  shade  as  though  "•'to  the  manor  born."  It  requires  the 
stimuhts  of  a  steamer  nearly  ready  to  return  to  the  States,  to 
energize  one  sufficiently  to  write  a  letter  home.  It  is  a  luxury  to 
breathe  and  feel  the  soft  air,  but  it  inclines  to  repose;  it  puts  us 
in  a  state  or  condition  of  rest.  Bold  enterprise  and  tireless  energy 
are  quickened  into  life  by  cold  winds  from  the  snow-fields. 

"There's  iron  in  our  northern  winds, 
Our  pines  are  trees  of  healing." 

Not  only  is  ambition  not  indigenous  in  the  Bahamas,  but, 
like  many  other  exotics,  it  has  but  a  sickly  and  short-lived  exist- 
ence when  introduced  from  abroad.  The  j)rimal  curse  that 
doomed  man  to  a  life  of  labor,  does  not  seem  to  have  extended' 
to  these  isles  of  unending  summer.  In  fact,  it  is  only  in  such  a 
climate  as  these  islands  possess  that  labor  is  a  curse  and  not  a 
blessing.  Indolently  reposing  in  the  shade  of  a  tropical  orchard, 
fanned  by  the  sea-god's  invisible  wings  that  seem  ever  in  motion, 
the  inhabitants  of  these  favored  islands  have  no  occasion  to  work 
(as  we  of  the  north  understand  that  word)  in  order  to  supply 
their  simple  wants.  It  is  therefore  apparent  that  the  original 
Garden  of  Eden  must  have  been  less  favorably  situated  for  lazy 
people  than  this  part  of  her  majesty's  possessions. 

Xew  Providence  has  been  called  by  one  of  its  enthusiastic  ad- 
mirers, in  the  pages  of  Scribner,  "The  Isle  of  June."  It  may 
with  equal  propriety  be  named  The  Isle  of  Indolence.  At  all 
times,  in  sunlight  and  starlight,  it  seemed  as  if  unseen  spirits 

"Spread  forth  their  downy  pinions,  scattering  sleep 
Upon  the  drooping  eye-lids  of  the  air." 

Man  there  soon  passes  into  a  semi-torpid  state,  and  while  the 
wear  and  Avaste  incident  to  an  active  life  is  avoided,  the  recuper- 


SHARKS   CHLOT?nFOmrEr)   Bf   CLIMAtE.  115 

ating  powers  arc,  as  in  sleep,  quietly  at  work.  Entering  the 
dining  room  of  the  Victoria  Hotel  for  our  breakfast  soon  after 
eight  o'clock  one  morning,  and  finding  as  usual  at  that  early 
hour  nearly  a  hundred  seats  at  the  tables  unoccupied,  Are  said  io 
the  head  waiter,  ''  There  arc  a  good  many  lazy  persons  in  this 
hotel.*'  ''Yes,"  he  replied;  ''it's  the  place  to  be  lazy — that's 
what  people  are  here  for."'  It  is  only  occasionally  that  the  ama- 
teur fishermen  have  life  and  Aim  enough  eA'Cu  to  fish,  being,  like 
the  author,  satisfied  to  simply  sail  OA-er  the  beautiful  Avaters. 
Some  persons  explained  to  us,  upon  their  return  from  a  fishing 
excursion,  that  the  fish  they  cauglit  Avere  not  "gamy,"  and  made 
none  of  those  heroic  struggles  for  freedom  Avhich  giA'o  spirit  and 
zest  to  i^iscatory  sports  in  northern  Avaters.  The  fish  Avhich  they 
caught  were  large,  fat  and  beautifully  colored.  Sharks  abound, 
and  come  near  enough  to  the  surface  to  be  soothed  and  quieted 
by  the  Bahama  air.  As  the  tempting  bait  floats  near  the  top  of 
the  water  about  three  rods  from  the  boat,  it  is  very  interesting 
to  watch,  in  the  clear  Avater,  the  movements  of  the  sharks  as  they 
reconnoiter  and  cautiously  approach  the  savory  but  deceitful 
prize.  The  larger  ones  manifest  the  prudence  so  characteristic 
of  age,  while  those  smaller  and  younger,  as  our  sable  yachtman 
forcibly  expressed  it,  "jess  like  de  children  what  den  no' no  bet- 
ter," impetuously  rush  forward  and  are  caught,  toAved  to  the 
boat  and  shot  for  their  temerity.  One  of  the  captured  was,  Avitli- 
out  any  court-martial  trial,  shot  in  the  head,  and,  with  his  jaAvs 
extended  to  their  utmost  capacity,  exhibited  in  the  court  of  tho 
hotel.  It  was  seven  and  one-half  feet  long,  and  had  a  capacious, 
well-armed  and  ugly  looking  mouth — extremely  repulsive  to  all 
except  those  Avho  have  a  romantic  desire  to  take  part  in  the  old 
drama  of  "Jonah  and  the  Whale."  It  should  be  said  to  the 
credit  of  the  Nassau  sharks,  that  while  the  black  divers  in  the 
clear  and  transparent  waters  of  the  Bahamas  must  look  to  them 


116  ISLES  OF  StlMMER. 

exceedingly  attractive,  esjDecially  ■when  hungry,  we  heard,  of  only 
a  single  instance  in  which  any  one  of  these  usually  voracious 
monsters  has  dined  ujion  a  negro,  and  the  report  in  that  case  is 
not  very  well  authenticated. 

While  in  Florida,  a  gentleman  having  a  plantation  upon  the 
St.  John's,  mentioned  to  us  that  he  could  not  give  credit  to  all 
the  claims  that  had  been  made  and  published  concerning  the 
Bahamas,  and  upon  being  pressed  to  state  particularly  what 
claims  he  considered  unfounded,  he  replied — "  "Well,  take  for 
instance  the  Bahama  sharks;  it  is  affirmed  that  they  never  injure 
people.     Now  I  can't  believe  that  story.     Why,  last  summer,  at 

the  mouth  of  the  St.  John's,  Mr.  and  his  family  left  their 

cottage  to  bathe  in  the  river.  His  wife  entered  the  water  first, 
and  while  she  was  wading  out,  in  the  presence  of  her  husband 
and  children,  she  uttered  one  loud  scream  of  pain  and  terror  and 
disappeared.  Her  body  was  afterwards  recovered,  minus  one 
arm.  A  shark  had  seized  her  by  the  arm,  drawn  her  under 
water,  and  bitten  her  arm  off.  I  do  not  believe  that  over  in 
]S"assau  where  sharks  are  plenty,  they  are  so  different  from  ours." 

It  is  proverbial  that  every  story  has  more  than  one  side — and 
we  found  it  so  in  this  case.  Upon  inquir}',  we  ascertained  from 
some  friends  of  ours  who  own  a  cottage  at  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
John's,  that  the  lady  in  question,  in  company  with  another  lady, 
went  out  upon  a  sand  bar,  and  remained  there  about  an  hour; 
that  in  the  mean  time  the  tide  rose,  increased  the  depth  of  the 
water,  and  the  force  of  its  current  between  them  and  the  shore; 
that  in  attempting  to  return,  one  lady  got  into  a  hole  beyond 
her  depth;  that  her  companion,  in  endeavoring  to  rescue  her, 
also  got  into  deep  water;  that  one  was  in  consequence  drowned, 
while  the  other  floated  away  quite  a  long  distance,  upon  the  sur- 
face of  the  water,  but  was  rescued  at  last  unharmed,  by  a  gentle- 
man who  went  in  a  boat  to  her  relief,  passing  on  his  way  through 


SOOTHING  EFFECTS  OF  CLIMATE.  117 

water  infested  with  sharks,  a  dozen  or  more  of  them  being  in 
sight. 

A  gentleman  who  has  spent  considerable  time  in  the  West 
Indies,  assured  us  that  sharks  are  cautious  if  not  cowardly,  and 
that  they  will  never  ioite  a  man  if  he  splashes  the  water.  Per- 
haps, before  trusting  too  much  even  to  the  warm  water  sharks, 
it  will  be  prudent  to  first  make  sure  that  their  hunger  has  been 
satisfied.  When  looking  for  his  breakfast  or  his  dinner,  in  the 
absence  of  fish,  now  and  then  a  shark  may  make  a  bold  dash  for 
human  flesh.  The  very  great  clearness  of  the  Bahama  waters 
may  operate  in  favor  of  safety,  and  the  fish  that  they  crave  for 
food  may  be  less  abundant  in  the  colder  water  of  the  Florida 
Gulf.  If  the  Bahama  sharks  are  very  dangerous,  it  is  singular 
that  so  few  facts  are  reported  which  indicate  it,  and  that  the 
divers  continue  to  be  so  numerous  and  so  bold. 

In  our  sleeping  room  at  Xassau,  it  was  sometimes  found  nec- 
essary to  use  the  mosquito  bars  with  which  our  bed  was  provided. 
We  found  this  insect  unlike  the  little  nocturnal  musicians  so 
common  at  the  north.  When  hunted  upon  the  wall  in  the  morn- 
ing, a  Xassau  mosquito  appears  strangely  indifferent.  Often 
when  first  struck  at  and  not  hit,  it  does  not  seem  at  all  disturbed 
and  remains  in  the  same  place.  Tlien  when  aroused  sufficiently 
to  fly  from  the  threatened  danger,  it  makes  a  very  short  journey 
to  another  resting  place  not  far  from  the  first,  and  looks  around 
with  a  calm  quiet  expression  of  supreme  indifference.  A  lady 
justly  remarked — ''you  don't  see  them  sitting  'round  that  way 
at  home,  but  here  they  breathe  a  lazy  atmosphere  and  live  on 
lazy  blood." 

Little  facts  and  circumstances  evidence  great  truths.  The 
influence  of  climate  may  be  as  well  shown  by  a  mouse  as  by  a 
man  or  a  mammoth.  Therefore,  it  is,  that  we  give  another  little 
incident  that  came  under  our  observation. 


118  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

With  more  curiosity  than  discretion,  a  mouse  one  day  came 
out  of  its  hole  to  look  at  some  of  the  newly  arrived  guests  of  the 
Victoria  Hotel.  Upon  being  pursued,  it  took  refuge  under  a 
mat  at  the  foot  of  the  grand  stair-way.  A  little  girl  turned  up 
the  end  of  the  mat,  and  we  then  expected  to  see  a  lively  display 
of  the  quickness  and  agility  of  the  pursuer  and  pursued.  But, 
to  our  astonishment,  the  mouse,  with  quiet  resignation,  remained 
perfectly  passive,  aud  made  no  noise,  wliile  the  little  girl  seized 
it  by  the  tail  with  her  fingers,  and  suspended  it,  head  downwards, 
in  the  soft  and  soothing  air.  Such  passive  resignation  in  a  cold 
climate  would  have  been  impossible. 

In  further  evidence  of  astonishing  climatic  results,  we  copy 
the  following  seemingly  incredible  fish  story  from  a  Avell  written 
article  upon  Nassau  by  E^ics  Sargent,  the  proprietor  of  the  Sar- 
gent House  in  that  city.     Speaking  of  fish,  he  says  : 

"The  jew-fish  supplies  the  place  of  our  ISTorthern  halibut.  It 
is  cut  into  steaks  and  fried  in  a  similar  manner.  It  is  the  largest 
edible  fish  we  have,  often  weighing  six  hundred  pounds.  At 
certain  seasons  this  fish  lies  dormant  at  the  bottom,  and  refuses 
to  take  the  hook.  Under  these  circumstances  the  fishermen  dive 
doicn  and 2iluce  the  hook  in  his  mouth!  This  may  appear  to  you 
to  be  a  very  heavy  fish  story,  but  it  is  nevertheless  true,  as  can 
be  vouched  for  by  many  here." 

Mr.  Sargent,  who  thus  affirms  the  truth  of  this  story,  is  a 
highly  respectable  citizen  of  Nassau,  but  it  Avill  be  noticed,  he 
does  not  claim  that  his  testimony  is  founded  upon  his  personal 
observation.  If  the  fish  has  regular  hibernating  periods,  its  torpid- 
ity at  such  times  may  not  be  chargeable  to  the  climate.  It  seems 
that  this  singular  mode  of  capturing  large  fish  is  not  without  its 
perils,  for  Mr.  Sargent  adds,  that  "at  Long  Cay  a  man  had  his 
hand  taken  off  while  performing  this  feat." 

Our  landlord  kept  his  hotel  well  supplied  Avith  green  sea  turtle. 


BEA   TUETLES   RESIG^S-ED.      NEGROES  HAPPY.  119 

One  turtle  we  particularly  examined.  It  had  then  recently 
been  taken  from  the  water,  weighed  fifty-seven  pounds,  was  alive 
and  fat,  and  was  soon,  in  the  form  of  soups  and  steaks,  to  grace 
the  tables  of  the  dining-room.  This  huge  reptile,  (though  quite 
an  infant  compared  with  some  of  the  same  species),  while  he 
must  have  had  some  vague  suspicions  of  the  cruel  fate  in  store 
for  him,  and  was  turned  over  upon  his  back  so  that  he  could  not 
crawl  away,  and  rudely  punched  to  wake  him  up  and  to  see  if  he 
was  fat,  seemed  perfectly  contented  and  happy. 

A  large  number  of  servants  of  both  sexes  were  employed  in  and 
about  the  Victoria  Hotel,  yet  there  was  no  jarring,  scolding,  com- 
plaining or  quarreling.  Some  were  grave,  but  none  appeared  sad 
or  discontented.  Light  hearted  and  good  natured,  polite  and  re- 
spectful, attentive  and  faithful,  they  performed  the  tasks  assigned 
them  in  a  very  unexceptional  manner.  Petulant  and  unreason- 
able complaints  did  not  disturb  their  equanimity  or  elicit  tart 
replies.  When  a  number  were  assembled  to  perform  some  labor 
in  common,  they  lightened  their  tasks  by  finely  singing  with 
rich  musical  voices  sacred  songs.  They  were  never,  boisterous, 
and  ever  exhibited  a  respectful  deference  and  a  politeness  which 
was  the  more  agreeable  because  unstudied  and  natural. 

We  seldom  heard  in  any  of  the  suburbs  of  Nassau,  teeming  as 
they  do  with  colored  people,  a  harsh  or  jjrofane  word  ;  we  never 
there  witnessed  a  fight,  nor  do  we  remember  to  have  heard  a 
child  cry.  When  sailing  on  one  occasion,  Ave  heard  some  loud 
unpleasant  talk  between  two  white  men,  near  a  public  dock, 
each  on  board  and  apparently  in  command  of  a  vessel.  Finally 
one  said  to  the  other — "  Now  look'er  here  !  If  you  get  me  mad 
I'm  going  to  wrestle,  or  run,  or  do  something  !"  This  old  salt 
had  evidently  breathed  the  air  of  the  Bahamas  for  some  time. 

It  seemed  to  us  while  in  Nassau  that  if  Ave  had  any  enemies 
any  Avhere  in  the  Avide  Avorld  that  it  was  a  good  time  to  heartily 


120  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

forgive  tliem  while  we  were  not  only  too  lazy  to  get  mad,  but  too 
languid  to  keep  fast  hold  of  any  but  the  most  pleasant  and  sen- 
suous emotions,  and  before  we  returned  to  a  climate  where  one's 
nerves  are  all  so  "  strung  upon  wires  "  that  they  vibrate  painfully 
when  the  atmosphere  is  in  th3  least  disturbed  by  untoward  events. 
Nor  did  we  feel  like  the  very  sick  Dutchman  who  promised  if 
he  died  to  forgive  his  enemy,  but  to  give  him  a  good  licking  if 
he  recovered.  We  would  also  suggest  to  those  restless  spirits 
that  cannot  wait  for  the  coming  of  the  millenium  in  the  due 
course  of  time,  and  who  are  anxious  to  have  the  lion  and  the 
lamb,  without  any  further  delay,  lie  down  together  in  peace,  the 
propriety  of  trying  the  efficacy  of  j^hysical  forces,  independent 
of  or  in  conjunction  Avith  moral  ones,  and  that  they  now  in- 
augurate a  great  migratory  movement,  by  which  the  whole 
human  family  shall  be  transported  to  the  Bahamas,  or  to  other 
similar  islands,  Avhere  men  lack  the  life  and  energy  to  commit 
crime,  or  to  accumulate  fortunes,  or  to  engage  in  great  enter- 
prises, and  every  passion  (save  one)  is  as  torpid  and  seemingly 
dead  as  though  it  never  had  a  lodgment  in  the  human  heart. 
We  suspect  that  when  the  millenium  is  witnessed  in  the  northern 
states,  great  climatic  changes  will  have  first  taken  place. 

As  might  be  expected  Nassau  is  a  very  quiet  and  orderly  city. 
Strangers  are  much  impressed  by  the  absence  of  scenes  of  vio- 
lence, drunken  brawls  and  profane,  abusive  and  irritating  lan- 
guage in  the  public  streets  and  places  of  popular  resort.  We 
were  told  that  more  persons  are  arrested  for  improperly  wagging 
their  '^  unbridled  tongues,"  than  for  more  serious  offenses.  The 
''keeping  of  the  peace  "  is  not,  however,  due  to  the  climate  alone. 
The  criminal  code,  the  swift  and  sure  administration  of  justice 
by  the  courts,  the  police  department  with  its  efficient  and  fine 
looking  black  patrolmen — all  are  material  factors  in  accomplish- 
ing so  desirable  a  result.     Convicts  are  made  to  labor  upon  the 


CtOOd  order  m  kassau.  121 

streets,  and  the  cliain  gangs,  in  their  white  prison  uniforms, 
while  at  work  in  the  hot  sun,  exert  a  moral  influence  which  is 
widely  and  deeply  felt.  A  future  j)unishment  by  hard  work  and 
not  by  fire  is  what  makes  an  impression  on  the  indolent  mind. 
Nor  should  the  peaceful  and  conservative  operation  of  a  very 
efficient  Church — represented  by  a  goodly  variety  of  different 
sectarian  organizations,  from  the  humble  Methodists  with  their 
untiring  zeal  and  spiritual  sledge-hammers,  up,  through  the  more 
pretentions  cathedral,  to  the  loftiest  kind  of  high  church,  with 
its  choir  of  colored  urchins  in  holy  vestments  within  the  walls  of 
"  Saint  Agnes,"  in  Grantstown,  back  of  Nassau,  be  omitted. 
The  extent  of  its  salutary  influence  may  be  fairly  inferred  by  the 
manner  in  which  Sunday  is  here  kept.  The  first  day  of  the  week 
is  marked  by  solemn  stillness,  entire  absence  from  all  secular 
employments,  a  display  of  neat  and  tasty  costumes,  and  by  a 
general  attendance  upon  the  devotional  services  of  the  churches, 
as  strongly  as  it  is  in  any  of  the  country  towns  of  New  England. 
In  this  respect  the  neighboring  island  of  Cuba,  with  its  Sunday 
theatres  and  bull  fights  in  its  chief  city  of  Havana,  furnishes  a 
most  striking  contrast,  and  leads  the  seeker  after  the  best  practi- 
cal ecclesiastical  system  to  ask,  vv^hether  English  Protestantism 
or  Spanish  Catholicism  furnishes  the  most  desirable  religious 
foundation  for  a  prosperous  and  well  ordered  community. 

It  is  apparent  that  the  Royal  Victoria  Hotel  is  an  active  agent 
in  demoralizing  the  colored  boys  who  frequent  its  court.  Nov- 
elty speedily  degenerates  into  nuisance.  To  them  the  crowds  of 
winter  visitors  are  like  the  sugar  hogsheads  to  northern  summer 
flies.  The  "rich  Northerners"  constitute  a  great  living  tide, 
Avitli  deep,  broad  citrrents  of  unfailing  wealth,  and  all  are  most 
eager  to  catch  some  of  tlie  drops  of  the  golden  spray.  Not  all 
of  them  who  have  a  love  of  money  are  endowed  with  the  gift  of 
song,  and  as  the  choirs  are  not  selected,  and  most  of  the  black 

11 


123  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

urchins  believe  that  the  louder  they  scream  the  better  they  sing, 
the  extent  of  the  disturbance  and  annoyance  may  be  in  some 
small  degree  comprehended.  This,  together  with  an  inveterate 
habit  of  begging  at  all  times  and  on  all  occasions  for  money — a 
vicious  practice  constantly  encouraged  and  fostered  by  the  well- 
meant  liberality  of  the  guests — occasionally  causes  some  of  the  old 
habitues  of  the  hotel,  when  the  salutary  influence  of  the  lash  is 
not  brought  into  requisition,  to  hire  them  to  go  away. 

Although  you  have  only  to  tickle  the  Bahama  rocks  with  a 
crowbar  to  make  them  smile  with  tropical  and  semi-tropical  har- 
vests, yet  agriculture  languishes  and  maintains  but  a  sickly  strug- 
gle for  life,  the  wildness  of  untamed  nature  being  only  here  and 
there  to  a  very  limited  extent  disturbed.  In  and  near  Nassau 
many  places,  once  made  beautiful  by  enforced  slave  labor,  now 
look  sadly  neglected.  A  thick  growth  of  bushes  and  small  trees 
cover  the  rocky  fields,  and  many  dwellings,  once  the  hapj^y  homes 
of  men  who  owned  their  workmen,  have  a  deserted,  tumble-down 
look  not  at  all  in  keeping  with  their  natural  attractions.  Some 
sugar  cane  is  raised,  and  several  small  sugar  mills  are  in  opera- 
tion. The  cane  is  crushed  by  horse  power  between  three  small 
cylinders,  connected  together  at  the  top  by  projecting  cogs,  so 
that  while  one  cylinder  is  turned  by  a  horse  traveling  in  a  circle 
at  the  end  of  a  long  connecting  arm,  (as  in  the  old-fashion 
cider  mill),  the  other  cylinders  are  made  to  revolve.  They  are 
so  adjusted  that  the  third  cog  gives  the  cane  a  tighter  squeeze 
than  the  first  two.  One  of  the  receiving  cylinders  has  either 
vertical  grooves  or  spaces  which  help  to  maintain  and  keep  a  hold 
upon  the  cane,  constantly  fed  to  the  machine  by  a  negro  seated 
on  the  ground  by  its  side.  "While  in  operation,  a  steady  stream 
of  saccharine  caue-juicc,  having  a  strong  corn-stalk  taste,  runs 
into  a  large  tub,  from  which  it  is  taken  in  pails  to  the  sugar 
house,  where  it  is  boiled  in  large  kettles;  the  cane  from  which 


KO  FACTORIES — THE   MECHANIC   ARTS.  123 

the  juice  has  been  extracted  is  used  for  fuel  in  making  the  sugar, 
and  is  fed  to  stock.  Some  lime  is  put  into  the  juice  Avhen  it  is 
boiled.  Six  men  were  employed  in  the  mill  we  visited,  who 
worked  from  5  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  sundown.  Each 
horse  grinds  twice  a  da}',  two  hours  at  a  time — making  four 
hours  i^er  day  for  each  horse.  The  mill  yields  only  one  and  a-half 
barrels  of  sugar  per  day.  It  was  made  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  One 
of  the  other  three  mills  on  this  island  makes  four  barrels  of  sugar 
per  day.  It  is  only  quite  recently,  we  believe,  that  sugar  has 
been  made  upon  the  island  of  New  Providence.  Commencing 
in  December,  sugar-making  continues  four  months.  The  sugar 
seems  of  very  fair  quality. 

A  marine  railway  for  the  repair  of  vessels  is  maintained  upon 
Hog  Island,  but  we  searched  in  vain  for  a  single  factory  upon 
any  of  the  Bahamas,  bearing  the  faintest  resemblance  to  the 
thousands  that  are  found  in  every  northern  state.  A  very  few 
little  shoj^s,  like  those  often  seen  in  small  American  villages, 
where  some  of  the  simplest  of  the  mechanic  arts  are  practiced, 
exist.  But  there  is  very  little  demand  for  skilled  labor.  We 
have  a  photograph  of  a  Nassau  joiner  shop.  It  is  very  roomy, 
being  located  out-doors.  It  is  well  ventilated,  having  for  its 
ceiling  the  blue  vault  of  heaven.  It  is  stable,  being  founded 
upon  a  rock.  It  is  amply  furnished  and  manned  for  the  succes- 
ful  prosecution  of  a  limited  business,  as  it  has  a  single  joiner's 
bencli  and  jack  plane,  wliich  are  in  the  sole  possession  and  use 
of  one  of  the  Queen's  colored  subjects.  A  negro,  mounted  upon 
a  rather  unprepossessing  looking  mule,  is  the  nearest  approach 
which  the  Bahamas  have  yet  made  towards  establishing  either  a 
steam  or  horse  railroad.  Telegraphs  and  telephones  are  of  course 
unknown.  Nassau  has  been  described  to  be  "  a  city  without 
chimneys,"  though  a  few  have  been  built  for  culinary  purposes. 

A  lady  of  our  party  having  broken  either  the  main-spring  or 


124  ISLES  OF  SUMMEK. 

chain  of  her  watch,  it  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  man  who 
held  himself  out  to  the  world  in  Nassau  as  competent  to  repair 
it.  He  kept  it  some  four  or  five  weeks,  and  until  the  owner  was 
on  the  point  of  leaving  the  island,  and  charged  her  a  good  price 
for  his  worse  than  useless  services.  She  found  her  watch  in  a 
worse  condition  than  she  believed  it  would  have  been  if  she  had 
sent  it  to  a  northern  blacksmith  ol  average  mechanical  ingenuity 
and  intelligence. 

While  Prof.  Dana  concedes  that  a  coral  island  is  a  good  tem- 
porary sanitarium  when  well  supplied  witli  foreign  stores,  "in- 
cluding a  good  stock  of  ice,"  and  is  especially  attractive  to  those 
"who  can  draw  inspiration  from  its  mingled  beauties,"  he  well 
says,  that  "even  in  its  best  condition,  it  is  but  a  miserable  place 
for  human  development,  physical,  mental  and  moral,"  although 
"there  is  poetry  in  its  every  feature."  "  How  much,"  he  per- 
tinently asks,  "  of  the  poetry  and  literature  of  Europe  would  be 
intelligible  to  persons  whose  ideas  had  expanded  only  to  the 
limits  of  a  coral  island?  What  elevation  in  morals  should  be  ex- 
pected upon  a  contracted  island,  so  readily  overstocked  that 
threatened  annihilation  drives  to  infanticide,  and  tends  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  extremest  selfishness.  "Assuredly,"  he  adds, 
"  there  is  not  a  more  unfavorable  spot  for  moral  or  intellectual 
progress  in  the  wide  world  than  the  coral  island." 

The  situation  of  the  city  of  Nassau,  and  its  commercial  rela- 
tions with  the  outside  world,  save  its  people  in  a  measure  from 
the  consequences  which  naturally  result  from  a  location  upon  a 
small  island,  of  very  limited  resources,  entirely  destitute  of 
mountains,  and  where  neither  rivers  nor  rivulets  are  seen  wend- 
ing their  way  to  the  sea,  to  the  music  of  their  everflowing  waters. 
The  generosity  exhibited  by  many  of  the  poorest  of  the  negroes, 
was  often  the  subject  of  favorable  comment  by  people  from  the 
States. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Absence  of  Wild  Animals  upon  Coral  Islands.  Pleasures  af  the  Chase 
Unknown.  Diet  of  the  Aborigines.  How  Alligators  Taste.  The  Guanas  as 
a  Table  Luxury.  They  are  Intoxicated  with  Whistling  Music.  Vassar  Girls 
Charming  Turtles.  Mountain  Crabs.  The  Hermit  Crab  a  Freebooter.  The 
Lizards — Changing  their  Color  and  Hunting  Game.  Animals  upon  the  West 
India  Iskuids  when  Discovered.  Snakes.  Sea  Turtles.  Turtle  Shell.  How 
Sponges  Grow  and  form  Communistic  Communities.  The  Sponge  FisJieries. 
Value  and  Quantity  of  Bahama  Sponges  Exported. 

"The  world  was  made  to  be  Inhabited  by  beasts,  but  studied  and 
contemplated  by  man." — Thomas  Brown.- 

But  \x])o\\  the  Bahamas  man  finds  few  animals  to  study  and 
contemphite.  At  the  time  of  their  discovery  by  Columbus  in 
1492,  they  were  destitute  of  all  the  higher  forms  of  animal  life. 
The  Bahamas  belong  to  a  recent  geological  age,  and  are  some  of 
the  ornamental  ajipendages  Avith  which  the  earth  was  decorated, 
thousands,  and  perhaps  millions  of  years  after  it  was  made,  and 
wliile,  with  its  little  partner,  the  moon,  it  was,  as  now,  waltzing 
around  the  sun.  This,  in  connection  with  the  fact  of  their  small 
extent  and  isolated  position,  accounts  for  that  absence  of  animal 
life  to  which  we  have  referred.  Some  domesticated  animals — 
the  cow,  the  horse,  the  hog  and  the  sheep — are  now  found  upon 
the  islands,  but  they  are  a  part  of  the  old  world's  gift  to  the  new. 
That  pet  of  many  a  household — man's  friend,  companion,  guard 
and  protector — the  much  alnised  dog — is  not  only  frequently  met 
with  upon  the  islands,  but  it  is  reported  that  a  native  breed  once 
existed  that  never  barked.     While  we  are  unable  to  vouch  for 

135 


196  ISLES   OP  SUMMEtt. 

the  truthfulness  of  tlie  tradition,  we  are  ready  to  believe  that 
even  ill-natured  beasts  would  soon  become  amiable  in  the  mild 
and  soothing  air,  and  that  a  canine  millennium  might,  by  the 
silent  operation  of  natural  laws,  soon  be  established  on  those 
emerald  isles.  Perhaps  we  owe  an  apology  to  the  dogs  of  the 
Bahamas  for  having  stated  that  they  are  too  lazy  and  indolent 
to  bark — it  may  be  that  Ave  should  have  said  instead,  that  they 
are  too  amiable.  The  loud  and  persistent  crowing  of  the  roos- 
ters, during  all  the  hours  of  the  night,  we  have  been  recently 
assured  is  the  crow  of  hunger,  and  not  the  genuine  John  Bull 
expression  of  a  self-satisfied  sentiment  of  conscious  superiority. 

Killing  for  sport,  and  'Uhe  pleasures  of  the  chase,"  whether 
brutal  or  refined,  could  not  have  been  among  the  pastimes  of 
those  who  received  and  welcomed  Columbus  and  his  companions 
when  they  first  landed  upon  the  shores  of  the  New  World.  And 
they  had  yet  to  learn  the  game  of  cruel  and  merciless  war  from 
the  more  educated  and  cultured  savages  of  a  higher  civilization. 
In  that  they  had  no  accumulated  capital  they  Avere  poor  indeed, 
but  free  from  the  fevered  dream  of  ambition,  the  uufjuenchable 
thirst  of  avarice,  and  the  tortures  of  unsupplied  and  constantly 
increasing  Avants,  they  Avere  vastly  richer  than  any  of  the  envied 
millionaires  of  either  ancient  or  modern  times.  Simple,  amiable 
and  guileless  children  of  nature,  unlearned  and  uncultivated, 
happy  and  cheerful  as  the  birds  that  flaunted  their  gay  plumage 
in  the  spicy  and  perfumed  air,  they  lived  and  loA'cd  in  tlieir  little 
Gardens  of  Eden,  with  no  ban  upon  the  delicious  and  golden 
fruits  of  their  uncultivated  tropical  orchards. 

These  fruits,  a  limited  supply  of  vegetables,  and  the  fish  Avhicli 
the  surrounding  ocean  supplied  at  all  times  in  great  abundance, 
constituted  their  food.  A  vegetable  and  piscatory  diet  infused 
no  frenzied  fever  in  the  blood  or  brain;  and  Avith  no  Avild  beasts 
in  the  forests  or  jungles,  there  Avas  no  savagery  to  be  transmuted. 


ALTGATORS  AS  TABLE  LUXURIES.      THE    GUAN^A.  127 

Mr.  McKiunen  iu  liis  "  Tour,"  when  speaking  of  his  visit  to 
Acklin's  Island  in  1802-3,  says:  ''Alligators  were  sometimes 
brought  in  for  the  table,  but  it  required  considerable  address  to 
destroy  them.  The  negroes,  however,  never  display  so  much 
ingenuity  or  patience  as  in  pursuit  of  prey.  The  flesh  of  an 
alligator  which  I  tasted  was  hard,  white  and  very  much  resembled 
the  sturgeon's."  We  heard  of  no  alligators  at  New  Providence, 
and,  as  the  Bahama  Islands  are  destitute  of  rivers,  we  think  it 
probable  the  alligators  referred  to  had  strayed  away  from  their 
accustomed  haunts,  and  that  this  huge  reptile  contributed  little 
to  the  support  of  the  ancient  Luca3'ans,  , 

Lizards  of  small  size  are  very  common  in  New  Providence. 
They  are  from  six  to  twelve  inches  in  length,  and  their  ancestors 
could  not  here  have  very  materially  contributed  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  human  life.  But  Mr.  McKinnen,  speaking  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  island  and  their  inliabitants  in  his  own  time,  states 
that  *'the  guana  \iguana\  of  the  lizard  tribe  is  found  in  the 
holes  in  the  rocks  in  all  the  islands.  In  the  cultivated  parts  the 
guana  soon  disappears,  as  they  are  easily  taken,  and  their  flesh 
is  much  esteemed  by  the  negroes." 

Mr.  Bryan  Edwards,  of  the  island  of  Jamaica,  in  his  history 
of  the  West  Indies,  published  in  Dublin  in  1793,  says,  concern- 
ing the  island,  that 

"The  woods  were  peopled  with  two  very  extraordinary  creat- 
ures; both  of  which  anciently  were,  and  still  are,  not  only  used 
for  food,  but  accounted  superior  delicacies.  These  are  the  iguana 
and  the  mountain  crab."  The  former  "  is  a  species  of  lizard — 
a  class  of  animals  about  which  naturalists  are  not  agreed  whether 
to  rank  them  with  quadrupeds,  or  to  degrade  them  to  serpents. 
*  *  *  From  the  alligator,  the  most  formidable  of  the  family, 
measuring  sometimes  twenty  feet  in  length,  the  gradation  is 
regular  in  diminution  of  size  to  the  small  lizard  of  three  inches; 


138  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

the  same  figure  and  conformation  nearly  (tliougli  not  "wholly) 
prevailing  in  each.  The  iguana  is  one  of  the  intermediate  species, 
and  is  usually  about  three  feet  long,  and  proportionally  bulky. 
It  lives  chiefly  among  fruit  trees,  and  is  perfectly  gentle  and  in- 
noxious." He  says  they  had  then  ''become  generally  scarce," 
except  in  places  seldom  visited  by  man.  Also  that  "  the  English, 
even  when  they  were  more  plentiful,  did  not  often  serve  them 
at  elegant  tables,  but  their  French  and  Spa,nish  neighbors,  less 
squeamish,  still  devour  them  with  exquisite  relish."  Also  that 
a  lady  "of  great  beauty  and  elegance,"  assured  him,  from  her 
own  experience,  that  they  are  "  equal  in  flavor  and  wholesomeness 
to  the  finest  green  turtle."  That  ''P.  Labat  likewise  speaks  of 
a  fricasseed  guana  with  high  approbation.  He  compares  it  to  a 
chicken  for  the  whiteness  of  its  flesh  and  the  delicaoy  of  its  flavor." 
He  quotes  from  the  work  of  this  ''good  father,"  (Tom  iii,  p. 
316,)  his  description  of  the  novel  mode  then  in  vogue  of  captur- 
ing this  species  of  game.  "We  were  attended,"  he  says,  "by  a 
negro,  who  carried  a  long  rod,  at  one  end  of  which  was  a  piece 
of  whip  cord  with  a  running  knot.  After  beating  the  bushes  for 
some  time,  the  negro  discovered  our  game  basking  in  the  sun  on 
a  dry  limb  of  a  tree.  Hereupon  he  began  whistling  with  all  his 
might,  to  which  the  guana  was  wonderfully  attentive,  stretching 
out  his  neck  and  turning  his  head,  as  if  to  enjoy  it  more  fully. 
The  negro  now  approached,  still  whistling,  and  advancing  his 
rod  gently,  began  tickling  with  the  end  of  it  the  sides  and  throat 
of  the  guana,  who  seemed  mightily  pleased  witli  the  operation, 
for  he  turned  on  his  back,  and  stretched  out  like  a  cat  before  the 
fire,  and  at  length  fairly  fell  aslee'p,  which  the  negro  perceiving, 
dexterously  slipt  the  noose  over  his  head,  and  with  a  jerk  brought 
him  to  the  ground;  and  good  sport  it  afforded  to  see  the  creature 
swell  like  a  turkey-cock  at  finding  himself  entrapped.  We  caught 
others  in  the  same  way,  and  kept  one  of  them  alive  seven  or  eight 


MUSIC   LOVIXG   REPTILES.  129 

days,  but  it  grieved  me  to  the  heart  to  fmd  that  he  thereby  h).st 
much  delicious  iat." 

That  other  members  of  the  reptilian  family  are  also  keenly  sen- 
sitive to  whistling  music,  and  greatly  pleased  and  soothed  by  it, 
is  evidenced  by  the  following  account  which  the  author  received 
from  his  daughter.  She  says;  ''Upon  the  college  grounds  at 
Vassar,  there  is  a  small  artificial  lake  which  is  utilized  for  boat- 
ing in  mild  weather,  and  for  skating  in  winter.  It  is  well  stocked 
with  turtles,  varying  in  size  from  one  to  about  nine  inches  in 
length.  It  was  common  for  the  lady  students  to  keep  small 
ones  in  their  rooms  as  pets.  Perceiving  that  the  one  I  had  thus 
utilized  and  ''adoj)ted"  had  evidently  an  ear  for  certain  kinds 
of  music,  esjDCcially  whistling,  I  was  induced  to  try  an  experi- 
ment upon  other  and  larger  turtles  in  the  lake.  The  result  far 
exceeded  my  anticipations.  Pushing  out  from  the  shore  in  my 
little  row  boat,  I  could  always,  when  so  disposed,  secure  at  once 
at  my  whistling  concerts  for  turtles,  a  numerous  audience  of  all 
sizes,  from  three  to  nine  or  more  inches  in  length.  They  would 
mount  a  log  close  to  me,  first  one  and  then  another  taking  its 
place,  until  the  sittings  were  all  oecupied,  and  listen  with  wrapt 
and  pleased  attention.  While  the  whistling  continued,  they 
turned  their  heads  from  side  to  side,  and  stretched  them  out 
from  their  shells  to  the  farthest  possible  extent,  as  if  anxious  to 
see  and  hear  to  the  uttermost.  They  would  suffer  me,  at  such 
times,  to  handle  them,  and  the  music,  if  such  I  maybe  permitted 
to  call  it,  appeared  to  produce  a  very  quieting  effect  upon  them. 
They  seemed  intoxicated  with  what  must  have  been  to  them  a 
new  and  strange  pleasure.  They  would  remain  so  long  as  I 
would  whistle,  and  jump  off  into  the  water  when  the  whistling 
stopped.  They  liked  the  soft  sweet  airs,  and  were  frightened  by 
a  lively  tune,  but  I  found  that  I  could  retain  them  as  auditors 
of  the  more  spirited  tunes  if  I  first  quieted  them  and  secured 


180  ISLES  OF  SrMMER. 

their  confidence  by  whistling  tunes  which  harmonized  better  wit"h, 
their  shiggish  natures.  Wlien  the  whistling  stopped,  the  rei^tilian 
audience  retired,  and  carried,  perhaps,  the  news  of  the  strange 
sounds  they  had  heard  to  the  more  domestic  turtles  which  had 
remained  below  in  their  watery  abodes.  They  were  not  all  alike 
gifted  with  a  musical  taste,  for  some  evidently  enjoyed  it  very 
much  more  than  others.  I  found,  after  a  time,  that  this  novel 
sight  caused  often  the  attendance  upon  the  shore  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  lady  students,  Avho  were  much  interested  and  amused 
at  these  Avhistling  turtle  concerts." 

ISTo  doubt  the  New  Providence  guanas  were  long  since  exter- 
minated. The  small  lizards  of  to-day  are  certainly  in  appearance 
not  very  attractive  as  table  luxuries.  Capt.  Fox,  a  near  neigh- 
bor of  ours  at  the  hotel,  secured  a  few  living  specimens,  and  held 
them  in  captivity  for  a  few  days,  that  he  might  critically  examine 
them  and  observe  their  movements.  We  were,  by  his  courtesy, 
also  enabled  to  learn  by  personal  observation  some  of  their  pe- 
culiarities, although  generally  we  are  content  to  get  our  reptilian 
knowledge  second  hand. 

The  Bahama  lizards  possess  the  power  of  changing  their  colors, 
like  the  chameleon.  How  this  result  is  accomplished  we  do  not 
know.  They  may  have  little  vessels  containing  fluids  variously 
colored,  and  as  one  set  is  expanded  or  contracted  upon  the  sur- 
face, the  lizards  blossom  out  in  brown,  red,  green  or  satin  as  the 
case  may  be.  Thus  each,  without  changing  its  dress,  has  at 
pleasure  all  the  benefits  of  an  ample  and  varied  wardrobe.  This 
may  result  in  frequent  cases  of  mistaken  identity,  and  cause 
much  trouble  and  possibly  no  little  innocent  amusement.  Their 
eyes  have  movable  lids;  some  species  have  dew-laps,  which  look 
like  pouches  under  their  chins,  and  all  are  considered  harmless, 
although  possessing  teeth,  which  are  simple  in  their  structure.. 
They  have  an  elongate  round  body,  a  snaky  looking  tongue,  four 


REPTILES. 

1.  Chelonia  imbricata.  "Hawkbill  Turtle."  About  one-sixth  natural 
size,  from  Holbrook's  Herpetology.  Tortoise  shell,  used  for  combs,  jewelry, 
&c.,  is  taken  from  this  species. 

2.  Sphmrioda^'AyluH  notatus.  Natural  size.  3.  Head  of  same,  enlarged. 
4.  Foot  of  same,  enlarged,  showing  the  suckers.  From  Report  of  Mexican 
Boundary  Survey. 

5.  Anolis  principalis.  Natural  size.  From  Holbrook's  Herpetology. 
Color,  bright  green,  changing  to  brown,  acording  to  health  and  weather. 


,-"«?fe-1^s:*-x. 


^!^w^m^f^wr^ '- '  '''^'^^swii,^. 


'^♦■m^,,, 


'[Efi.t-rUin 


i-'undo  1-3071  &Cr  isard ,  Nov  Havsn ,  Ot 


REPTILES. 


THE  LIZARD.  iSl 

sliort  legs,  each  with  five  digits,  iiiid  travel  upon  the  rocks  and 
over  the  bushes  and  trees  with  considerable  dexterity  and  agility, 
being  essentially  aided  by  a  wiggling  motion  of  their  bodies  and 
long  tails.  They  always  excited  in  ns  such  a  decidedly  repugnant 
feeling,  that  we  did  not  consider  ourselves  at  all  slighted  when 
we  observed  on  their  part  an  evident  desire  to  avoid  us  as  disa- 
greeable intruders;  and  yet  these  reptiles  are  decidedly  good 
looking  and  attractive  Avhen  contrasted  with  another  genus  of  the 
same  family  in  Australia,  whose  ferocious  appearance,  armed  as 
they  are  with  horns  on  their  heads  and  spines  on  their  bodies, 
liave  secured  for  them  the  descriptive  and  suggestive  name  of 
'' Horrid  Molochs." 

One  of  our  passengers  from  Nassau  to  Fernandina  in  the 
Western  Texas,  was  Mr.  Albert  H.  Phelps,  of  West  Pawlet,  Vt. — 
a  self-educated  naturalist,  only  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  of  age, 
liaving  a  most  ardent  love  for  natural  history,  who,  while  at 
Nassau,  so  taxed  and  exposed  himself  in  the  intensely  hot  sun, 
collecting  and  preserving  as  many  specimens  as  jiossible  of  the 
singular  forms  of  life  in  and  out  of  the  water,  that  he  was  at- 
tacked with  a  dangerous  and  malignant  fever,  and  nearly  lost 
liis  life.  In  regard  to  the  New  Providence  lizards,  he  in  sub- 
stance said:  '*!  have  tenor  more  species;  some  of  them,  includ- 
ing their  long  slender  tails,  are  ten  inches  long.  One,  of  adark 
brown  color,  is  very  showy.  It  has  five  golden  spots,  and  its 
back  is  so  raised  as  to  form  a  ridge.  It  has  also  a  dew  lap. 
After  I  knocked  it  down  with  a  cane,  the  bright  colors  and  the 
dew  lap  disappeared,  and  the  re])tile  was  all  of  a  pale  ash  color. 
I  killed  another  before  he  hud  time  to  change  color.  It  was  of 
an  umber  brown,  with  clusters  of  lemon  yellow  spots,  very  minute, 
so  that  a  little  distance  off  each  cluster  seemed  a  little  spot. 
The  dew  lap  Avas  a  rich  shade  of  dark  umber  brown,  with  a  rich 
istripe  of  yellow  'round  the  small  bone  under  its  jaw,  and  'round 


13^  ISLES  OF  STTMMEfi. 

its  foreliead  and  head  of  its  nose.  1  read  in  Appleton's  Americaii 
Encyelo])edia  that  thjre  are  no  four  footed  reptiles  that  are  dan- 
gerous. 1  have  allowed  the  lizards  of  all  descriptions  to  bite 
me,  and  never  suffereJ.  any  inconvenience  from  it.  Their  bite 
is  like  tliat  of  turtles;  they  pinch  hard,  and  have  great  strength 
in  their  jaws.  The  small  lizards  will  stand  and  turn  their  heads 
and  listen  if  you  whistle.  It  is  amusing  to  see  them  out  hunting. 
They  hunt  insects  that  are  large  enough  to  attract  their  atten- 
tion. At  a  place  where  I  used  to  go  to  get  sea-eggs  to  dry,  flies 
collected,  and  I  would  sit  and  watch  them.  They  would  see  a 
fly  when  two  feet  distant,  and  then  lie  down  and  creep  towards 
it  like  a  dog  after  a  wood-chuck,  or  a  cat  after  a  mouse.  1  have 
seen  them  jump  and  catch  flies,  and  catch  them  on  the  wing. 
Salamanders  are  not  dangerous.  I  have  tamed  little  red  ones  so 
that  they  would  walk  'round  on  my  finger.  I  never  could  get 
one  of  them  to  bite  me.     They  are  perfectly  harmless." 

In  a  communication  received  from  our  young  friend,  Mr. 
Phelps,  of  Vermont,  while  this  chapter  was  in  the  printer's  hands, 
he  states:  *'Many  of  the  people  of  Nassau  consider  the  flesh  of 
the  iguana  a  great  delicacy.  I  was  unable  to  test  it  i)ersonally, 
because  none  were  offered  for  sale  in  the  Nassau  market.  I  ob- 
tained one  from  Cuba  for  my  collection.  They  grow  to  a  length 
of  from  three  to  four  feet,  including  the  tail,  which  is  two-thirds 
the  entire  length.  The  head  is  large,  and  its  capacious  mouth 
is  armed  with  about  fifty  teeth  upon  each  jaw.  The  dew-lap  has 
a  depth  about  equal  to  the  diameter  of  the  head;  it  is  triangular, 
and  has  about  a  dozen  separations  on  its  anterior  border.  Along 
its  neck  and  back  is  a  comb-like  crest  of  fifty-five  scales,  which, 
extending  to  the  tail,  becomes  simply  a  serrated  ridge.  The 
color  above  is  greenish,  with  blue  and  slate  tints;  below  it  is  a 
greenish  yellow;  generally,  upon  the  sides,  there  are  brown,  zig- 
zag bands,  with  a  yellowish  border j  oa  the  front  of  the  shoulder 


toE  tlZARl).  133 

tliere  is  a  yellowish  band;  some  are  dotted  witli  brown,  and  haye 
yellow  spots  on  the  limbs.  The  tail  is  ringed  broadly  with  alter- 
nate brown  and  yellowish  green  colors." 

Mr.  Phelps  adds:  ''  There  are  a  great  many  small  iguanas  every 
where  about  Nassau.  The  most  numerous  species  are  about  five 
inches  in  length,  and  are  generally  of  a  light  gray  color,  but  like 
the  chamelion,  they  can  change  to  several  different  hues  at  will. 
It  is  constantly  on  the  hunt  for  small  insects,  and  may  at  any 
time  be  seen  on  trees,  walls  and  houses,  running  about  in  quest 
of  its  prey. 

"Another  small  species  abounds  in  all  gardens.  It  is  about 
seven  inches  long,  and  of  the  brightest  grass-green  color.  It  is 
much  more  slender  than  the  one  just  described,  has  a  tail  which 
is  twice  the  length  of  its  body,  and  a  very  prominent  dew-lap  of 
a  rich  umber-brown  tint.  The  dew-lap  is  peculiar  to  this  order 
of  lizards.  It  is  capable  of  expansion  and  contraction  at  will, 
and,  through  its  changes,  an  interchange  of  ideas  seem  to  be 
effected;  sight  taking  tbe  place  of  sound  as  a  medium  for  trans- 
mitting thought. 

*'  The  blue-tailed  lizard  frequents  hot,  sandy  places,  and  may  be 
commonly  seen  al)out  the  battery.     It  is  al^out  ten  inches  long. 

"  The  lizard  is  small  but  very  useful.  Its  mission  is  to  keep 
insect  life  in  tropical  countries  within  reasonable  and  proper 
bounds.  They  are  exceedingly  spry,  and  very  amusing  in  their 
habits.  They  never  molest  any  one,  and  their  mission,  so  far  as 
man  is  concerned,  is  decidedly  friendly  and  beneficial."' 

Mr.  Phelps  states  that  he  saw  ujjon  the  island  of  New  Provi- 
dence, three  si)ecies  of  the  tree  frog,  one  of  which  was  very  large. 

Also  that  he  had  collected  while  at  Nassau,  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  species  of  crabs,  including  three  or  four  kinds  of  land 
crabs.  Mr.  Edwards,  in  his  history  of  the  West  India  Islands, 
speaking  of  the  mountain  crab,  says: 

1% 


13'4  ISLES  OF  SUMME:ft. 

"  It  is,  without  douLt,  one  of  llie  choicest  morsels  in  nature.*' 
It  formerly  was  found  in  immense  numbers,  and  the  observation 
of  Du  Tertre  that  they  were  "a  living  and  perpetual  supply  of 
manna  in  the  wilderness,  equalled  only  by  the  miraculous  boun  ty 
of  Providence  to  the  children  of  Israel  when  wandering  in  the 
desert,"  is  said  to  have  been  no  exaggeration.  The  Indians  re- 
lied upon  them  with  confidence  when  all  other  provisions  were 
scarce,  and  the  supply  was  always  equal  to  their  wants. 

When  Edwards  wrote  it  still  existed  in  large  numbers,  but  he 
thouffht  the  time  of  its  extinction  was  then  near  at  hand. 

Du  Tertre  described  them  as  living  in  a  kind  of  orderly  soci- 
ety in  their  retreats  in  the  mountains,  and  as  having  annual  night 
marches  to  the  sea,  by  the  shortest  and  straightest  lines,  like  a 
well  drilled  and  admirably  organized  army  under  able  and  ex- 
perienced commanders.  The  waves  relieve  the  crabs  of  their 
sj)awn;  the  eggs  are  soon  hatched  in  the  sand  of  the  shore,  and 
millions  of  young  crabs,  impelled  by  a  power  invisible,  mys- 
terious and  divine,  are  soon  seen  slowly  making  their  way  to  the 
mountains.  Crowding  each  other  upon  the  eastern  coast  of  the 
Atlantic  states,  the  human  instinct  has  to  be  quickened  by  the 
loud  clarion  notes  of  command  to  induce  the  young  men  to  "go 
West,"  but  these  little  crabs  seem  to  be  endowed  with  more 
practical  wisdom,  and  to  push  inland  of  their  own  accord. 

The  hermit  crab,  a  singular  and  well  known  species,  is  com- 
mon upon  the  shores  of  the  Bahamas.  It  has  very  loose  ideas 
upon  the  subject  of  the  personal  rights  of  its  fellow  creatures, 
and  is  to  the  full  extent  of  its  capabilities,  a  first-class  freebooter. 
Having  captured  a  little  circular  shell  fish,  it  uses  the  shell  of  its 
prisoner  to  cover  and  protect  the  vulnerable  portion  of  its  own 
organism,  makes  itself  perfectly  at  home  in  its  new  but  stolen 
house,  occupies  it  as  tenant  in  common,  pays  no  rent,  compels 
its  captive  to  make  all  the  repairs,  and  to  accompany  it  on  its 
travels  over  the  rocky  shore. 


West  in-dia  ifbtg-en-otjs  at^imals.  1^5 

Mr.  Edwards  states  that  there  anciently  existed  upon  the 
Windward  or  Caribbee  Ishinds  all  the  animals  that  were  found 
upon  the  larger  islands,  and  some  others  in  addition.  Tlie  latter 
were  found  at  the  time  when  he  wrote  in  Guana,  and  few  or 
none  of  them  in  North  America,  which  helped  to  make  him  be- 
lieve that  the  Windward  Islands  were  anciently  peopled  from 
the  south.  He  mentions  only  eight  kinds  of  land  animals  as 
having  been  found  in  the  West  Indies,  viz, : 

1.  The  agouti — ("the  mu9  aguti  of  Linnaeus,  and  the  cavi/ 
of  Pennant  and  Buffon")  "constitutes  an  intermediate  species 
between  the  rabbit  and  the  rat."  He  believed  it  extinct  except 
in  the  larger  islands. 

2.  The  pecary — ("  the  sus  tajacu  of  Linnaeus,  and  the  pecary 
and  Mexican  musk  hog  of  English  naturalists.'")  It  differed 
from  the  European  hog  in  that  it  had  a  gland  upon  its  back 
from  which  there  was  a  musky  discharge,  while  it  sported  gay 
colors,  its  bristles  being  pale  blue  tipped  with  white.  It  was 
also  more  courageous,  and  would  attack  the  dogs  that  hunted 
them.  In  1793  it  had  been  exterminated  in  the  West  Indies,  but 
it  abounded  in  some  portions  of  Mexico. 

3.  The  annadilla  was  called  "  the  nwi6  5a/ic?cc?.  It  was  cov- 
ered with  a  jointed  shell  or  scaly  armor,  and  rolled  itself  up  like 
the  hedge-hog.  As  an  article  of  diet  it  was  very  delicate  and 
wholesome."  It  was  once  found  in  all  the  West  Indies,  but  wag 
extinct  wlien  Edwards  wrote. 

4.  The  oppossum  (or  monitoxi)  grows  its  own  bag  in  Avhich 
under  its  belly,  it  shelters  and  carries  its  young.  This  animal 
like  the  pecary,  Edwards  thinks  was  unknown  in  the  larger 
islands. 

5.  "  The  raccoon  was  common  in  Jamaica  in  the  time  of 
Sloane,  who  observes  tliat  it  was  eaten  by  all  sorts  of  people." 
It  was  believed  to  have  been  exterminated  when  Edwards  wroteu 


1S6  ISLES  OF  StlMMEIi. 

6.  The  musk  rat — {the  2)iloris  ot  naturalists) — abounded  on 
some  of  the  islands,  and  may  have  been  the  agouti. 

7.  The  alco  or  native  dog,  that  did  not  bark,  was  carefully 
fattened  by  the  natives,  and  esteemed  a  great  delicacy  as  an 
article  of  diet.  Edwards  quotes  the  following  from  Acosta:  "  In 
St.  Domingo  at  first  there  were  no  dogs  but  a  small  mute  creature 
resembling  a  dog,  with  a  nose  like  that  of  a  fox,  which  the  na- 
tives called  alco.  The  Indians  were  so  fond  of  these  little  ani- 
mals that  they  carried  them  on  their  shoulders  wherever  they 
went,  or  nourished  them  in  their  bosoms. " 

8.  Monkeys.  These  were  used  for  food,  and  are  said  to  have 
very  much  the  flavor  of  hare.  Englishmen  seem  to  have  had  a 
sort  of  Darwinian  instinct,  and  to  have  deemed  an  invitation  to 
dine  upon  monkeys  substantially  the  same  as  to  pick  the  dry 
bones  of  their  dead  ancestors. 

The  only  snake  we  saw  while  at  the  Bahamas,  was  discovered 
and  killed  near  the  west  gate  of  the  hotel  enclosure.  We  think 
they  are  neither  numerous  or  dangerous. 

Mr.  Phelps  Avrites  that  the  chicken  snake  is  the  only  represen- 
tative wpon  the  island  of  New  Providence  of  the  whole  family  of 
serpents;  that  it  resembles  the  milk  snake;  and  that  it  is  reported 
to  attain  sometimes  a  length  of  fifteen  feet,  but  that  the  largest 
one  he  saw  and  measured  was  six  feet  long,  and  two  inches  in 
diameter  in  the  largest  part.  He  adds:  ''They  are  perfectly 
harmless.  The  only  venomous  creatures  on  the  island  are  the 
tarantulas,  or  ground  spiders,  as  they  are  called  by  the  natives. 
They  are  found  but  rarely,  and  only  upon  the  plantations.  In 
my  many  excursions  I  never  came  across  either  a  tarantula  or  a 
scorpion.  My  specimens  were  obtained  of  the  negroes,  whose 
services  were  secured  through  the  stimulating  influence  of  pecu- 
niary rewards.  Centipedes  are  occasionally  met  with,  but  their 
sting,  though  very  painful,  is  not  fatal." 


SEA  TURTLES.  137 

Several  large  and  valuable  kinds  of  sea  turtles  are  found  in  the 
Bahama  waters^  as  was  evidenced  by  tiie  bountiful  supply  of  ex- 
cellent turtle  soups  and  turtle  steaks  often  seen  upon  the  dining 
room  tables  of  the  Royal  Victoria  Hotel.  Tlie  Hawk's  Bill  tur- 
tle yields  the  beautiful  tortoise  shell  that  figures  so  2'»rominently  in 
ladies'  toilets.  The  shells  of  the  Green,  and  also  of  the  Yellow 
or  Mulatto  turtles,  are  said  to  be  in  lamina  too  thin  for  practical 
use.  Tlie  name  "  Green  Turtle  ''  we  suppose  was  given  them  on 
account  of  the  green  color  of  the  fat  under  their  shells.  Turtle 
steak  is  very  light  colored,  and  looks  and  tastes  like  the  tender 
meat  of  a  chicken.  Stepping  upon  a  platform  adjoining  a  Nas- 
sau dock,  we  looked  down  through  a  trap  door  into  a  crawl  which 
contained  a  large  number  of  sea  turtles,  varying  in  weight  we 
should  tliink,  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  or  more  pounds.  The 
shells  of  some  of  them  at  least,  equalled  in  size  the  one  the  poet 
Wadsworth  thus  very  unpoetically  describes: 

"  The  shell  of  a  green  turtle,  thin 
And  hollow;  you  might  sit  therein 
It  was  so  wide  and  deep." 

We  observed  them  with  much  interest.  They  appeared  con- 
tented and  happy  although  somewhat  restless.  Our  first  impres- 
sion was  that  they  were  either  holding  a  mass  meeting  or  a 
sociable.  Then  we  queried  whether  they  had  not  come  to  Nassau 
on  a  marooning  excursion.  But  they  were  so  dignified  and 
solemn,  and  seemed  so  loaded  down  with  a  heavy  weight  of  cares, 
we  finally  concluded  tliey  were  holding  a  session  of  the  sub-marine 
reptilian  "Parliament."  That  they  were  loyal  and  patriotic 
may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  they  were  soon  to  lose  their 
lives  for  the  public  good.  Turtles  and  turtle  shells  are  ex- 
ported from  the  Bahamas  of  the  annual  value  of  from  three 
thousand  to  four  thousand  dollars.     It  is  said  that  the  sea  turtle 


IBs  iSLES  Oi"  S^rMMER. 

will  live  several  weeks  without  food — consuming  meantime  we 
suppose,  its  own  fat.  Upon  unfrequented  and  desolate  little 
islands  or  keys,  covered  with  sand,  weeds  and  hushes,  the  sea 
turtles  lay  their  eggs  in  great  numbers,  which  are  incubated  by 
the  sun — each  newly  hatched  little  reptile  thereby,  all  uncon- 
sciously, acting  the  part  of  the  infant  Moses  in  the  bulrushes. 
The  turtle  as  a  pedestrian  is  not  a  great  success,  as  his  four  legs 
are  very  short  and  widely  separated.  But  it  is  apparent  from  the 
size  of  the  turtle  steaks  that  he  has  great  muscular  2)ower,  and  in 
"paddling  his  own  canoe  "  in  the  water,  although  weighted  with 
a  complete  coat  of  mail,  he  can  make  very  good  time. 

The  aborigines  of  the  island  of  Cuba  captured  the  sea  turtle 
by  a  process  novel  and  ingenious.  Tying  a  long  cord  to  the  tail 
of  a  sucker-fish,  which  the  Spaniards  called  the  reves,  (of  the 
Echeiieis  genera,)  they  cast  it  into  the  water  in  the  narrow  and 
winding  channels  frequented  by  the  sea  turtles,  and  the  fish 
first  fastening  its  suckers,  which  surrounded  a  flat  disc  upon  its 
head,  upon  the  turtle's  coat  of  mail,  retains  its  hold  until  the 
piscatory  captor  and  captive  were  safely  drawn  out  of  the  water. 
Columbus  alleged  that  the  reves  would  suffer  itself  to  be  dismem- 
bered rather  than  relax  its  hold  upon  its  unfortunate  victim.  It 
may  be  presumed  that  this  singular  method  of  fishing  for  turtles 
was  followed  by  the  natives  of  the  Bahama  Islands.  Humboldt, 
in  his  "  Island  of  Cuba,"  states  that  when  this  new  mode  of  fish- 
ing was  reported  in  Europe,  the  story  was  discredited  and  con- 
sidered ''only  a  traveler's  tale."  He  adds  that  on  the  eastern 
coast  of  Africa,  near  Cape  Natal,  a  similar  artifice  was  used. 

The  most  valuable  product  of  the  Bahama  waters  is  the  Spon- 
gida,  which  yields  the  sponge  of  commerce — an  article  which 
ministers  in  so  many  ways  to  the  comfort  and  wants  of  man.  It 
has  been  growing  in  popular  favor  for  the  past  forty  years,  as  its 
capacity  for  varied  and  extensive  usefulness  has  been  gradually 


developed.  Fastened  to  the  rocks  .])y  roots,  maturing  germs  like 
buds,  and  looking  like  a  fungus,  an  ordinary  observer  can  hardly 
believe  the  learned  men  of  science  when  informed  by  them  that 
it  is  an  animal.  The  spongidae  are  found  in  water  from  twelve 
to  thirty  feet  deep,  and  are  detached  from  the  rocks  by  divers  or 
by  fisliermen  witli  the  aid  of  long  poles  having  hooks  with  two 
jjrongs.  Water  glasses,  like  those  hereafter  described  in  our  chap- 
ter upon  corals,  are  also  used  when  the  water  is  rough.  A  large 
number  of  boats  and  men  are  employed  in  the  business. 

When  we  went  to  Nassau  we  supposed  we  knew  sponges,  but 
we  were  greatly  mistaken.  When  taken  from  the  water  they  are 
dark  colored,  and  in  appearance  resemble  liver.  The  sponge  of 
commerce  consists  of  the  flexible  fibrous  skeletons  of  a  large  colony 
of  sponges.  The  very  small  and  clustered  animals  are  so  closely 
united,  and  so  arranged,  as  to  form  a  mass  of  tubes,  through 
which  the  sea  water  containing  their  food  is  made  to  circulate 
by  means  of  very  small  hairs  or  cilia  which  line  the  cavities,  and 
vibrate  at  the  will  of  the  animal,  so  that  each  can  take  its  ap- 
propriate nourishment  as  the  water  passes  through.  It  seems  to 
be  a  communistic  community,  where  each  works  for  the  common 
benefit  of  all.  The  principle  Avorks  well,  and  would  jjroduce 
equally  good  results  in  human  societies  if  man  had  only  a  little 
more  of  the  nature  and  disposition  of  a  sponge  conferred  upon 
him.  The  water  is  discharged  through  the  larger  orifices.  It 
has  been  well  said  that  "  the  sponge  represents  a  kind  of  suba- 
queous city,  where  the  people  are  arrayed  about  the  streets  and 
roads,  in  such  a  manner  that  each  can  appropriate  liis  food  from 
the  water  as  it  passes  along."  The  supply  of  water  is  stopped 
when  tlie  orifices  or  gates  of  these  marine  cities  are  closed,  but 
how  such  multitudes  of  animals,  that  are  inseparably  united  and 
permanently  attached  to  one  spot,  can  be  so  regulated  and  man- 
aged as  to  secure  harmony  and  the  common  good  of  all,  we  cannot 
fully  understand. 


1^:^  ISLES  OF  SfilMEft. 

Aside  from  its  many  curious  forms,  some  of  whicli  are  beauti- 
ful, the  sponge  when  first  taken  from  the  water  has  a  very 
unpromising  appearance,  and  its  odor  is  offensive.  The  sponge 
of  commerce  is  merely  its  skeleton  or  framework.  This  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  glairy,  gelatinous  substance,  which  formerly  was 
remoYcd  by  burying  the  sponges  in  the  sand  for  a  few  days,  and 
afterwards  whipping  them  with  sticks.  But  now  they  are  kept 
ui^on  deck  for  two  or  three  days,  when  they  lose  their  vital- 
ity ;  afterwards  they  are  placed  in  a  crawl  and  kept  there  from 
eight  to  ten  days;  then  they  are  cleansed  and  bleached  in 
the  sun  and  air  upon  the  beach.  Afterwards,  upon  their  ar- 
rival in  Nassau,  the  roots  are  cut  off,  and  they  are  trimmed 
and  packed  for  exportation.  Some  of  those  offered  for  sale  in 
the  hotel  court  were  doubtless  bleached  with  chemicals.  The 
result  in  such  cases  is  that  the  strength  of  the  fibre  is  impaired. 
The  sponges  grow  sometimes  in  forms  so  singular  and  unirpie 
that  they  command  from  strangers  a  good  price  as  curiosities. 

We  were  shown  at  Judge  VanA^olkenberg's  house  in  Florida, 
what  seemed  to  be  a  package  two  or  three  feet  in  length,  of  beau- 
tiful small  glass  threads,  and  were  very  greatly  surprised  to  learn 
that  it  was  a  species  of  Japanese  sponge.  It  was  obtained  in 
Japan  when  the  Judge  filled  the  office  of  United  States  minister 
to  Japan. 

We  also  saw  in  the  little  embryo  museum  which  is  connected 
with  the  Nassau  public  library,  a  delicate  foreign  sponge,  packed 
in  cotton  wool,  which  closely  resembled  handsome  thread  lace. 

In  a  recent  official  report  of  the  Governor  of  the  Bahamas,  he 
states  that  it  has  been  discovered  in  Germany  that  the  sponge 
may  be  propagated  by  cuttings  from  living  specimens,  which, 
when  fastened  to  pieces  of  board,  ave  placed  in  the  sea.  Skilful 
cultivation  may  hereafter  result  in  the  production  of  the  more 
valuable  sponges  in  many  parts  of  the  ocean  world  where  they 
are  not  at  present  found. 


SPONGES. 

1.  Tuba  plicifera.     "  Bouquet  Sponge." 

2.  ParJiyrJialina  rubens.     "  Silk  Sponge."     Color,  when  living,  red. 

3.  Hircitiia purpurea.     "Wire  Sponge." 

4.  Spongia  tubuUfera.     "  Finger  Sponge."    A  peculiar   variety  of  the 
'Glove  Sponge." 


/>*//■ 

^ ..  ^ 


#&^ 


^'"> 


^^? 


'  M  Emerton  tron\  naiur-e 


SFONGES 


SPONGES.  141 

Our  Bahama  experience  has  secured  for  the  sponge  a  con- 
spicuous and  pleasant  place  in  our  memory.  It  is  no  longer 
what  it  has  been.  It  has  become  glorified  and  hallowed.  We 
look  at  it  with  new  eyes,  and  handle  it  with  a  feeling  of  re- 
spect akin  to  reverence,  for  it  reflects  something  of  that  divine 
and  creative  wisdom  that  caused  it  to  grow,  in  part  at  least  for 
man's  benefit,  upon  the  white  limestone  floor  over  which  the 
clear,  Avarm  waters  of  the  ocean  surrounding  the  coral  islands 
ceaselessly  roll.  Perhaps  a  more  tliorough  and  extensive  explor- 
ation of  the  beds  of  the  ocean  world  may  bring  to  light  new  and 
valuable  additions  to  the  sponge-producing  waters.  In  the  sea 
dredging  off  the  coast  of  Massachusetts  some  specimens  of  Spongi- 
dffi  have  been  obtained. 

The  Bahama  sponges  differ  very  much  in  quality,  and  conse- 
fjuently  in  value.  Some  are  quite  small  and  fine — others  large 
and  coarse.  Some  have  a  texture  so  firm  that  the  hardest  wring- 
ing and  pulling  does  not  tear  them.  Others,  having  the  same 
general  appearance,  are  easily  picked  to  pieces  with  the  thumb 
and  finger.  The  difference  in  softness  is  also  very  marked.  The 
novice  needs  to  be  on  his  guard,  and  to  exercise  much  caution 
in  making  purchases,  for  he  is  not  only  in  great  danger  of  buying 
a  poor  and  perhaps  worthless  article,  but  of  imposition  in  the 
matter  of  price.  It  is  never  pleasant  to  feel  that  we  have  been 
imposed  upon,  but  it  is  mortifying  for  one  boasting  of  Caucassian 
Ijlood  to  be  cheated  by  an  ignorant  and  unlettered  negro. 

Sponges  are  daily  offered  for  sale  in  the  court  of  the  Eoyal 
Victoria  Hotel.  They  are  strung  together,  a  dozen  or  more  upon 
a  string,  and  most  visitors  purchase  a  supply  for  home  use.  They 
are  much  cheaper  than  those  sold  at  retail  in  the  States,  and 
when  dried  and  pressed  occupy  but  little  room.  In  the  waters 
surrounding  the  islands  of  Abaco,  Exuma  and  Andros  the 
sponges  are  found  in  the  greatest  abundance;  and  the  Abaco 


142  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

sponges  were  represented  to  be  the  best  bj  those  who  sold  sponges 
at  the  hotel. 

For  the  purposes  of  sale  the  Bahama  sponges  are  divided  into 
eight  classes,  and  though  they  find  a  ready  market,  they  are  con- 
sidered inferior  to  those  which  are  found  in  the  Mediterranean — 
and  this  is  equally  true  of  corals.  I  was  informed  by  an  exten- 
sive dealer  in  sponges,  that  the  Florida  waters  produce  sponges 
of  a  quality  superior  to  those  of  the  Bahamas,  though  not  equal 
to  those  of  the  Mediterranean. 

The  quantity  and  value  of  sponges  annually  exported  from  the 
Bahamas  has  not  been  uniform.  In  1855,  sponges  were  exported 
of  the  value  of  nearly  150,000;  in  1861,  of  over  $150,000;  in 
1877,  over  $90,000;  in  1878,  nearly  1^125,000;  and  the  aver- 
age for  ten  years  prior  to  1864  Avas  nearly  187,000.  The  increase 
in  quality  and  value  in  1878  was  caused  by  the  re-opening  of  the 
Cuban  sponge  fisheries  which  were  closed  during  the  Cuban  in- 
surrection. The  Bahama  sponge  fleet  entered  last  year  the  Cuban 
waters,  and  by  over  production  soon  broke  down  the  market. 
Some  of  the  finer  qualities  were  exported  to  France,  but  the 
largest  portion  of  the  Bahama  sponges  are  sent  to  the  United 
States  and  to  England. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Amusements.  Small  and  Isolated  Communities  thrawn  upon  their  Own  Re- 
sources. Visit  of  a  Circus  Companr  to  Nassau.  Its  Effect  upon  the  Negroes. 
Whist  and  Boating  Clubs.  Base-ball  and  Polo.  Military  and  Marbles. 
Religion  Utilizing  the  Idle  Hours.  Streets  Placarded  tcith  Notices  of  Solemn 
Fasts.  Absence  of  a  Color  Line  in  Churches.  Amateur  Fishing.  The  Boat- 
men Canvassing  for  Customers.  Capt.  Sampson  a  Fisher  of  Men.  He  Describes 
and  Discloses  the  Sharks. 

The  people  of  Nassau,  owing  to  their  isolated  condition,  are 
compelled  to  rely  upon  their  own  resources  for  amusement.  A 
Bahama  nimrod  has  no  horn  or  hoof  or  hide  among  his  trophies. 
His  game  is  in  the  sea.  In  the  variety  and  abundance  of  its 
fauna,  the  ocean  to  some  extent,  makes  up  for  the  absence  of 
'  animal  life  in  the  impenetrable  jungles.  The  birds  have  mostly 
been  compelled  to  build  their  nests  and  rear  their  young  upon 
secluded  and  uninhabited  islands.  Nassau's  "  back  country"  is 
small  in  extent,  and  the  continuity  of  the  shade  and  the  profound 
depth  of  the  solitude  which  ever  rests  upon  the  island  beyond 
the  city's  borders,  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  broken  by  the  two  or 
three  little  hamlets  where  a  few  negroes  have  their  humble  homes. 
Hence  the  almost  entire  absence  of  the  thousand  and  one  enter- 
tainments that  compete  for  a  portion  of  the  time  and  money  of 
the  people  in  all  the  cities  of  the  Union.  These,  with  us,  are 
largely  due  to  our  facilities  for  inter-communication.  They  mul- 
tiply as  oiT  steam  commercial  marine  increases,  and  with  every 
enlargement  of  our  railroad  system.  Theatrical  exhibitions, 
menageries,  concerts  by  companies  of  eminent  musicians,  lectures 

143 


lr-4  ISLES   OF  SUMMER. 

from  famous  and  gifted  men,  and  great  gatherings  of  represen- 
tative men  in  science,  religion  and  politics,  and  for  moral 
reforms,  must  inevitably  be  as  rare  in  the  Bahamas  as  skating 
rinks.  During  the  wild  excitement  that  prevailed  in  Nassau 
when,  during  the  late  rebellion,  it  was  practically  a  confederate 
port,  under  the  protection  of  the  flag  of  Great  Britain,  a  stone 
building  was  erected  for  theatrical  exhibitions.  The  astonished 
Avinds  immediately  blew  its  roof  off  and  otherwise  damaged  it, 
so  that  its  bare  monumental  walls  alone  remain  to  commemorate 
the  important  part  which  Nassau  played  in  the  great  war  of  the 
Southern  rebellion.  But  no  inference  can  properly  be  drawn 
from  the  fact  of  its  destruction  by  the  angry  elements,  that  the 
theatre  was  especially  objectionable  to  the  spirit  that  rides  upon 
the  whirlwind  and  directs  the  storm,  because  churches  as  well  as 
other  public  and  many  private  buildings  were  blown  down  at  the 
same  time.  We  have  no  doubt  that  the  Bahama  government,  in 
these  calm  sober  days,  would  prefer  as  a  paying  investment,  warm- 
ing pans  to  theatres. 

Nassau  and  its  surroundings  have  much  to  interest  a  stran- 
ger, especially  if  he  has  spent  his  life  in  more  northern  latitudes; 
but  to  her  own  citizens,  it  must  be  a  very  dull  place  notwith- 
standing an  occasional  hurricane  and  frequent  wrecks.  In  the 
winter  of  18T8,  '79,  a  traveling  circus  company  chartered  a  steam- 
boat and  visited  some  of  the  "West  India  Islands.  Their  arrival 
in  Nassau  produced  a  deep  and  profound  sensation.  The  landing 
of  Columbus  and  his  followers  upon  a  neighboring  island  nearly 
four  centuries  before,  with  gilded  cross  and  emblazoned  banner, 
was  not  a  greater  surprise  or  productive  of  half  the  pleasure. 
No  alloy  of  fear  marred  the  happiness  wdiich  the  arrival  of  the 
acrobats  occasioned.  Heralded  from  afar,  and  accompanied  in 
their  grand  march  through  the  streets  of  Nassau  by  musicians 
who  made  the  soft  and  languid  air  vibrate  with  a  melody  it  never 


A    CIRCUS.       GOVERXMEXTAL    SHOWS.  145 

had  before  experienced,  richly  clad  in  costumes,  striped,  bespan- 
gled and  radiant  with  burnished  silver  and  shining  gold,  they 
seemed  to  many  an  unlettered  and  untraveled  looker-on,  four- 
fold more  the  children  of  the  sun  than  did  the  Sjoanish  discoverers 
of  1492.  The  new  Jerusalem,  as  seen  in  the  fervid  dreams 
of  Nassau's  dusky,  religious  devotees,  surely  cannot  boast  so 
gorgeous  a  chariot,  nor  do  horses  of  equal  grace  and  beauty  tread 
the  golden  and  jewelled  streets  of  their  celestial  city.  A  wild 
and  bewildering  excitement  took  possession  of  Grant's  Town, 
and,  like  an  electric  atmosphere,  pervaded  the  thoroughfares  and 
by-ways  of  Nassau  itself.  While  the  show  lasted,  the  contribu- 
tions levied  upon  the  guests  of  the  Eoyal  Victoria  Hotel,  to 
enable  the  little  negroes  to  see  it  and  be  forever  happy,  were  quite 
formidable  in  number  if  not  in  amount.  Indeed,  some  of  the 
juveniles  were  smart  and  enterprising  enough  to  make  it  an  ex- 
cuse for  obtaining  a  good  supply  of  shillings  for  future  use.  We 
suspect  that  the  circus  as  a  motive  power  and  moral  force  in  the 
world  has  been  underestimated.  We  esteemed  it  more  highly  after 
we  witnessed  its  effects  in  that  island  of  unending  summer.  In- 
dolence retired,  and  ambition  came  out  of  its  tomb  of  death  at 
its  approach.     Long  live  the  circus  ! 

As  we  have  elsewhere  shown,  the  forms,  ceremonies,  symbols, 
trappings  and  paraphranalia  of  a  royal  government,  furnish  an 
integral  and  very  important  part  of  Nassau's  amusements.  In 
this  point  of  view,  colonial  institutions  on  a  monarchial  model 
are  a  real  godsend.  For  people  living  outside  of  the  limits  of 
the  great  world  of  human  activity  and  life,  without  railroads, 
telegraphs,  steamboats,  telephones,  capital,  enterprise,  or  busi- 
ness, it  seems  to  be  a  pleasant  but  expensive  diversion. 

A  whist  club  exists'at  Nassau.  It  is  composed  of  the  governor, 
and  a  few  high  officials  and  prominent  citizens,  numbering,  as  we 
were  informed,  some  fifteen  in  all.     They  meet  twice  a  week,  in 

13 


146  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

'the  evening  from  eight  to  eleven  o'clock;  Friday  at  the  '*  Govern- 
ment House,"  (the  Governor's  residence,)  and  Tuesdays  at  the 
houses  of  the  other  members.  They  play  nothing  but  whist,  and 
loyally  follow  the  English  custom  of  joutting  up  sixpenny  stakes, 
''just  to  increase  a  little  the  interest,  and  keep  things  lively," 
as  my  informant  expressed  it.  We  were  also  told  that  on  these  oc- 
casions "they  never  drink  to  excess,  and  no  excess  of  any  kind 
is  indulged  in."  Excess,  as  applied  to  drinking,  is  a  very  flexible 
uncertain  word.  Such  of  the  high  officials  as  we  saw  drink  could 
not  be  called  "  hard  "  drinkers,  for  we  never  saw  men  drink  more 
easy  than  they  did,  or  appear  to  take  to  it  more  naturally,  or  en- 
joy it  more.  In  carrying  capacity,  also,  they  are  at  least  the 
peers  of  their  American  cousins.  The  belief  is  wide  spread,  that 
spirituous  liquors  moderately  used  as  a  beverage  in  warm  climates, 
are  conducive  to  health.  "Where  malarial  poisons  are  exhaled, 
quinine  and  alcoholic  drinks  are  considered  by  many  absolute 
necessaries.  AVe  have  no  doubt  about  the  value  of  quinine  as  a 
tonic  and  malarial  antidote,  but  have  no  sufficient  basis  of  fact 
in  regard  to  the  use  of  alcohol,  in  such  cases,  upon  which  to  form 
an  opinion  satisfactory  to  ourselves,  or  of  value  to  others.  It  is  a 
question  which  has  two  sides.  If  that  which  we  saw  drank  was 
used  for  sanitary  reasons,  the  quantity  imbibed  indicated  a 
country  most  alarmingly  unhealthy.  The  treatment  we  thought 
partook  of  the  ''heroic." 

Nassau  formerly  had  a  yachting  club,  and  in  all  probability  its 
organization  remains,  but  nothing  occurred  while  we  were  there 
to  indicate  that  it  still  lives.  It  certainly  was  torpid  if  not  dead 
— chloroformed  by  climate.  Xo  regattas,  as  of  yore,  pleasantly 
disturbed  the  ocean  tides,  or  the  dreamy  quiet  of  the  city's  every 
day  life.  Something  of  the  sadness  which  follows  in  the  wake 
of  pleasure,  and  of  the  melancholy  which  hovers  over  departed 
joys,  surrounds  and  envelopes  the  yacht  club's  silent  boat-house. 


AMUSEMENTS.  'l4T 

The  ambition  of  the  young  men  is  not  excited  or  increased  by 
bat  and  ball,  or  boat  and  oar.  Archery,  an  out-door  diversion, 
which  connects  the  high-toned  men  and  maidens  in  England  to- 
day, with  the  people  of  pre-historic  times,  and  which,  with 
feathered  shafts  and  twanging  bow,  projects  the  distant  stone 
age  into  the  age  of  gold,  has  not  as  yet,  been  re-established  upon 
these  islands,  where  it  flourished  in  the  time  of  Columbus.  Ee- 
quiring  little  physical  exertion,  arousing  no  fierce  passions,  stir- 
ring the  bosom  with  only  pleasurable  excitement,  its  highest  en- 
joyment secured  when  both  sexes  participate  in  its  sport,  a  semi- 
tropical  climate  would  seem  to  be  peculiarly  favorable  to  its  prac- 
tice and  cultivation.  But  the  more  violent  games  of  foot-ball 
and  polo  flourish  instead,  and  call  out  many  spectators  on  the 
afternoons  of  Tuesday  and  Friday  of  each  week,  including  the 
elite  of  the  town  in  carriages.  Polo  results  occasionally  in  a 
broken  bone,  and  foot-ball  excites  to  spirited  struggles  for  tlie 
mastery.  The  negroes  in  the  military  department  when  off  duty, 
are  perhaps  more  to  be  commended,  for,  Avhen  not  idle,  or  occu- 
pied with  their  lady  friends,  they  are  satisfied,  (according  to  one 
of  the  official  medical  reports,)  with  flying  paper  kites,  and  the 
lowly  and  quiet  game  of  marbles.  No  doubt  many  of  the  Queen's 
ebony  subjects  would  rather  be  the  humble  turtle,  that  idly  basks 
and  meditates  upon  a  rock  in  the  sun,  than  the  most  beautiful 
antelope  that  ever  scaled  the  craggy  heights  of  a  mountain. 
With  the  thermometer  in  the  eighties  in  the  shade,  I  could  the 
better  understand  the  wisdom  and  good  sense  of  such  a  prefer- 
ence. But,  then,  upon  us  high-toned  English  precedents  pro- 
duced but  little  effect. 

One  result  of  the  absence  at  Nassau  of  the  iunumcrablc  and 
varied  private  sports  and  public  amusements  whicli  exist  in  all 
cities  and  large  towns  in  the  States  is,  to  give  greater  prominence 
and  importance  to  the  church.     Religion  has  its  social  side,  and, 


148  ISLES  or   SUMMEE. 

in  the  States,  it  is  apparently  often  deemed  advisable  if  not  nec- 
essary, to  unite  all  who  worship  or  statedly  attend  devotional 
exercises  in  the  same  place,  in  what  is  practically  a  social  club. 
It  is  diflBcult  for  the  church  to  secure  the  attendance  of  people 
generally  to  its  meetings  of  a  jDurely  religious  and  devotional 
character,  where  the  cities  are  constantly  placarded,  and  the 
columns  of  the  newspapers  teem  with  notices  and  advertisements 
of  an  endless  variety  of  shows  and  public  entertainments.  Hence 
the  number  of  church  fairs,  church  festivals,  church  feasts, 
church  concerts,  and  church  picnics.  It  has  been  deemed  nec- 
essary, not  so  much  to  aid  the  church  as  an  aggressive  force  in 
the  world,  but  in  self-defense,  to  surround  religion  with  some  of 
the  rational  enjoyments  and  healthy  diversions  which  otherwise 
will  be  practically  used  by  the  devil  to  undermine  its  influence 
and  destroy  its  power.  At  Nassau,  religion  dominates  without 
these  adjuncts,  as  it  did  in  New  England  in  the  days  of  the  pil- 
grims— and  for  the  same  reason. 

Public  attention  is  called  to  some  of  the  holy  days  and  fasts  of 
i\ie  church  by  placards,  printed  in  large  type  and  posted  upon 
the  street  corners  and  in  other  public  places.  Good  Friday  was 
thus  announced,  and  the  following  we  copied  from  one  of  the 
hand-bills. 

''Good  Fkiday, 

"Is  it  nothing  to  you,  all  ye  that  pass  by? 

"  Good  Friday  is  the  most  solemn,  the  most  awful  day  in  the 
whole  year  to  the  Christian. 

"  On  Good  Friday,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  God  in  the  nature 
of  man,  suffered  on  the  cross  of  shame,  dying  that  He  might 
save  you. 

"  It  is  everything  to  you  that  He  died,  for  He  suffered  for  your 
sin — yes,  your'sl 


ASTT    ^VF.DXKSDAY.  149 

''Mow  tlien  will  you  spend  Oood  Friday?  If  jour  father, 
mother,  wife,  or  husband,  son  or  daughter,  died — if  they  died  to 
save  your  life,  would  you  choose  the  anniversary  of  their  death  to 
make  merry  and  take  a  holiday?    No,  you  would  not." 

We  omit  the  three  concluding  paragraphs. 

Another  street  hand-bill  read  as  follows: 

"  Ash  Wednesday. 

"The  first  day  of  Lent; 

"  The  church's  special  call  to  repentance. 

"  Blow  the  trumpet  in  Zion;  sanctify  a  fast;  call  a  solemn  as- 
sembly;— 

"  Gather  the  j^eople;  sanctify  the  congregation;  assemble  the 
elders;  gather  the  children  and  those  that  suck  the  breasts;  let 
the  bridegroom  go  forth  out  of  his  chamber,  and  the  bride  out  of 
her  closet. 

"  Let  the  priests,  the  ministers  of  the  Lord,  weep  between  the 
porch  and  the  altar,  and  let  them  say,  spare  thy  people,  0  Lord, 
and  give  not  thy  heritage  to  reproach,  that  the  heathen  should 
rule  over  them;  wherefore  should  they  say  among  the  people, 
where  is  their  God?" — Joel  ii,  Chap.  15 — 17  verses. 

That  these  solemn  occasions  are  to  many  quite  attractive  is 
doubtless  true.  They  diversify  the  every  day  life  of  the  people, 
although  they  are  not,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term,  amuse- 
ments. But  they  are  a  real  recreation  no  doubt,  for  some,  and 
not  a  cross.  The  old  lady  exhibited  something  akin  to  this  feel- 
ing when  she  complained  of  the  solitary  situation  of  her  dwelling 
house;  she  did  not  like  it,  she  said  there  was  "nothing going  on 
there — no  funerals,  nor  nothing." 

Could  Black  Beard  and  the  other  pirates  who  rendezvoused 
and  dominated  in  Nassau  in  the  early  historic  times,  walk  its 
streets  to-day,  they  could  not  but  be  greatly  impressed  with  the 


150  Isles  c>v  srMMfiit. 

moral  and  religious  changes  which  have  taken  place.  While  the 
little  capital  has  doubtless  its  full  share  of  the  vices  which  mar 
the  civilization  of  modern  times,  and  is  by  some  declared  to  be 
a  very  wicked  i^laee,  yet,  compared  with  what  it  was  in  Black 
Beard's  day,  it  is  the  very  garden  of  the  Lord. 

Judging  from  outward  appearances,  religion  at  Xassau  is  built 
upon  a  very  democratic  basis.  In  their  public  assemblies  all  are 
''one  in  Christ."    There  is  no  ''color  line."" 

No  seats  are  set  apart  in  the  churches,  where  the  white  element 
preponderates,  for  colored  people.  The  blood  of  the  two  races  is 
greatly  and  curiously  mixed,  mingled,  and  combined.  The  line 
that  marks  the  division  between  day  and  night  is  not  more  uncer- 
tain and  difficult  to  determine  than  the  color  line  in  Nassau.  A 
prominent  white  citizen  informed  us,  and  it  seemed  both  to  amuse 
and  astonish  him,  that  the  whites  upon  Abaco  island  persist  in 
exclusively  occupying  one  side  of  the  church.  These  people, 
who  place  such  a  high  value  upon  their  blood,  descended,  he  said, 
from  the  pirates!  jVIuch  to  their  chagrin  the  Governor  appointed 
a  negro  to  fill  the  office  of  resident  magistrate  upon  that  island, 
because  he  excelled  them  in  a  competitive  examination.  The 
black  squire  occupied  a  seat  in  the  isle  which  separated  the 
"children  of  darkness"  from  the  "children  of  light." 

Many  of  the  visitors  at  Nassau  find  in  fishing  pleasant  and 
useful  occupation  for  some  of  their  leisure  hours.  Arrangements 
for  boats  and  bait  are  consummated,  the  party  made  up,  and  the 
time  and  place  agreed  upon  a  day  or  two  in  advance.  The  ex- 
penses, divided  per  capita  among  the  gentlemen  forming  the 
party,  are  trifling.  Good  sailing  and  good  fishing  can  be  calcu- 
lated upon  with  confidence,  as  it  is  very  rare  indeed  that  there 
is  any  failure  of  a  favorable  wind,  or  of  an  abundance  of  piscatory 
game.  The  boatmen  are  accustomed  to  bring  "the  catch"  to 
the  court  of  the  hotel,  where  their  captors,  with  a  laudable  pride 


fEK    PHOTOGRAPH   01-    SAMPSON'.  151 

exhibit  the  substantial  evidences  of  their  skill.  Sometimes  a 
liuge  shark  is  thus  exhibited.  The  great  variety  of  the  fish, 
(often  a  dozen  or  more  different  kinds,)  the  large  size  of  most, 
and  the  brilliant  colors  and  wonderful  beauty  of  many  when  first 
taken  from  the  water,  attract  the  attention  of  tlie  guests  of  the 
hotel,  and  secure  many  exclamations  of  astonishment  and  pleas- 
ure. Some  usually  are  then  given  to  the  hotel  steward,  and  the 
balance  to  the  boatmen.  But  the  dead  sharks  often  yield  up 
their  large  and  well  armed  jaws,  and  sometimes  their  spinal  col- 
umns, as  trophies  to  their  captors,  who  esteem  them  as  souvenirs. 

It  is  often  amusing,  and  always  interesting,  to  watch  and  listen 
to  the  boatmen  while  they  canvass  for  customers.  In  this  busi- 
ness Sampson  is  an  adept,  and  always  eminently  conspicuous. 
His  good  sense,  experience,  volubility  and  zealous  and  persistent 
attention  to  his  business,  place  him  naturally  in  advance  of  hia 
competitors.  His  dress  is  always  neat  and  showy,  but  his  ward- 
robe is  evidently  pretty  well  stocked,  for  he  frequently  blossoms 
out  in  costumes  of  varied  styles  and  colors.  Neither  does  his  ever 
active  tongue  vibrate  always  alike,  or  his  thoughts  and  illustra- 
tions run  in  the  same  well  oiled  groove.  We  add  a  little  jDen 
picture  as  a  sample  of  Avhat  is  daily  seen  and  heard  on  such  oc- 
casions. 

To  a  group  of  gentlemen  and  ladies  sitting  cosily  in  large  arm 
chairs  in  the  cool  shade  of  the  court  of  the  Royal  Victoria,  Samp- 
son is  telling  his  story,  and  answering  questions.  He  is  about 
six  feet  high,  muscular,  well-formed,  bright,  active,  ingenious, 
good-natured,  and  cunning.  He  on  this  occasion  sports  a  clean, 
white  jacket,  with  a  wide  turn-over  collar,  lined  with  blue  cloth, 
and  having  a  white  lino  running  round  it.  Its  pockets  are  adorned 
with  blue  binding.  In  one  of  the  pockets  is  a  white  handker- 
chief, ornamented  with  red  lines  and  red  corners.  His  shirt  has 
no  collar,  but  it  is  well  laundi'ied,  and  its  bosom  sjjorts  a  gold 


152  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

stud.  A  substantial  palm  leaf  hat  of  good  quality  rests  jauntily 
a  little  on  one  side  of  his  head,  the  body  of  which  is  encircled 
and  almost  covered  with  a  wide,  black  ribbon,  upon  which  is 
stamped  in  golden  capitals,  the  word  "  TRiDE2q"T,"  the  name  of 
his  yacht.  He  has  on  a  pair  of  neat,  dark  colored,  woolen  panta- 
loons, turned  up  a  trifle  at  the  bottom,  which,  by  their  length, 
are  suggestive  of  the  probable  fact  tliiit  they  once  belonged  to  a 
man  Avho  boasted  a  longer  and  probably  whiter  pair  of  legs. 

He  addresses  his  remarks  more  particularly  to  several  gentle- 
men who  arrived  in  the  last  steamer,  with  a  dignity  and  gravity 
calculated  to  inspire  respect  and  confidence.     He  insists  that 

''  If  de  gentlemen  choose  ter  go,  dare  aint  no  difficulty  'bout 
der  fish — I  ken  promise  yer  dat.  We'll  just  anchor  der  boat  at 
soundings,  with  her  tail  to  der  ocean,  when  we  get  whei'e  der  fish 
ar.  The  moment  I  gets  over  whar  dey  ar,  you  haint  got  to  feel 
for  'em,  but  jess  pull  'em  in.  If  der  sharks  don't  bother  yer, 
there's  no  mistake  about  it.  We  ken  wait  till  Thursday,  'cause 
der  wind  is  sou-east  now;  it  will  be  south  to-morrow,  and  Thurs- 
day she'll  fetch  'round  all  right.  I  want  to  wait  till  Thursday, 
'cause  I  know  for  sure  Thursday." 

'*  Is  there  no  danger  of  accident,  Sampson?" 

"  Deres  no  trouble  if  der  boatman  don't  lose  his  head.  Sam- 
son has  got  along  so  far  and  never  lost  his  head,  thank  God.  I 
never  had  any  accident;  God  has  spar'd  me  thus  far;  hope  I 
shall  alers  get  along  and  not  lose  my  head." 

"  Sampson,  now  tell  us  truly,  have  you  ever  studied  circum- 
navigation?" 

"  I  karnt  say  honest,  I  knows  dat.  I  don't  claim  I  ever  larned 
circumnavigation;  but  I  do  know  for  sure  that  I  ken  sail  der 
Trident  any  whar  in  dese  yer  waters  when  any  one  can,  and  I 
don't  kar  who  he  is." 

**  But  how  about  the  sharks,  Sampson?" 


SAMPSON   OIT  SHARKS.  153 

**Der  sharks  bother  us  sometimes.  Dey  comes  in  wid  der 
tide.  T'other  day  one  jest  swallowed  der  bait,  hook  and  all,  and 
towed  der  boat  where  he  liked.  We  wouldn't  let  him  go,  and 
der  shark  couldn't  get  away.  After  that  my  boat  hit  him  with 
an  oar  and  confused  him.  We  brought  him  ashore,  and  had 
him  in  a  hand-cart,  a  great  big  fellow.  It  was  a  bonnet-cub 
shark.  We'll  kill  some  when  we  go  fishing,  but  they'll  not  let 
us  bring  'em  ashore  now  'cause  of  der  smell." 

''You  call  'em  bonnet-cnh  sharks — why  is  that?" 

*'Kause  there's  something  'bout  dar  heads  that  looks  like  an 
old  fashion  ladies'  bonnet." 

"Aren't  the  sharks  dangerous,  Sampson?  Don't  they  some- 
times attack  men?" 

*'  I  never  see  'em  hurt  any  one.  One  year  arter  der  war  I  was  a 
diving  for  conchs,  the  water  was  deep,  and  I  took  der  first  shell  I 
could  find.  Then  I  has  a  way  of  putting  my  foot  on  der  bottom 
and  giving  a  shove  to  come  up.  I  was  finning  up,  and  when  I 
got  near  my  boat,  what  did  I  see  but  a  great  big  bonnet-cub 
lying  there  looking  at  me.  He  was  seventeen  feet  long.  Wasn't 
I  skar'd!  He  was  as  long  as  my  boat.  Ho  looked  at  me  kindei- 
anxious  like.  When  I  got  to  my  boat  I  rolled  in  all  in  a  heap, 
(juicker — you  may  l^et  on  that.  He  just  missed  me.  He 
'peared  disappointed  like,  wiggled  his  tail  and  went  off.  I've 
been  skar'd  ever  since.  I  don't  forget  his  eye  and  der  look  he 
gin  me.  I  never  knew  dey  liad  eyes  in  der  outer  edge  of  der 
heads  that  way  afore." 

"  You  don't  mean  to  say,  Sampson,  that  you  was  afraid  of  a 
shark?" 

"  I  mean  to  say  he  confused  me.  I  had  a  heap  rather  look  at 
'em  from  der  Trident,  den  to  see  'em  star  at  Sampson  in  der 
water  so  wicked,  der  way  he  did. " 

*'But  do  you  think  if  they  are  not  disturbed  they  will  attack 


154  ISLES  OF  su^rjiEn. 

people?    Some  say  if  you  splash  the  water  it  will  frighten  them 
away;  that  they  are  timid,  or  at  least  cautious  and  scary," 

''Every  one  of  'em  will  eat  men.  I  wouldn't  trust  any  of 
em.  Der  last  shark  we  caught  had  a  dozen  fish  in  him,  and 
leads,  and  lines,  and  hooks,  all  to  pieces  in  him.  We  got  one 
t'other  day  seven  feet  long.  Some  are  twelve  feet  and  more. 
A  man  went  fishing  some  time  ago  to  Andros  island,  in  his  boat. 
His  name  was  Carter.  He  didn't  come  back.  They  'spected 
something  had  happened,  and  sarched  for  him  next  day.  When 
they  got  near  der  reef  whar  he  war,  they  saw  his  boat — der  man, 
.he  warnt  there.  The  boat  either  swamped  or  tipped  over.  It  had 
some  turtle  and  fish  in  it  lie  had  caught.  Der  man  Avas  gone. 
Afterwards,  two  large  cubs  Avere  seen  cruising  'bout  dar.  One 
was  caught,  and  in  him  they  found  some  turtles  and  two-quarters 
of  a  man — so  I  'spose  der  sharks  divided  even. " 

Sampson's  persistent  zeal  and  unfailing  eloquence  made  him 
always  a  success  in  securing  his  full  share  of  business,  and  his 
experience  and  skill  as  a  boatman  were  always  conceded  by  his 
customers. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Yacliting  in  Bahama  Waters.  Sampson  and  Ms  Triton.  Testing  a  Sail- 
boat. Searching  Outside  in  a  Good  Wind  for  the  Line  Storm.  Sampson's 
Visit  to  New  York.  His  Experiences  and  Impressions.  Reliable  Winds — 
DeVghtful  Vieics — Congenial  Friends.  The  Log  of  the  Pleasfiire  Seekers. 
Neidy  Discovered  Poets.     The  Gulf  Weed. 

"The  winds,  full  of  souud — they  go  whispering  by, 
As  if  some  immortal  had  stooped  from  the  sky, 
And  breathed  out  a  blessing— and  flown!" — John  Nkal. 

Foe  safe  and  attractive  boating  facilities,  Nassau  is  pre-emi- 
nently distinguished.  Its  navigable  waters  combine  more  ele- 
ments of  varied  beauty  than  we  often  see  crowded  into  the  same 
number  of  square  miles.  In  ordinary  weather,  when  the  bosom 
of  the  ocean  gently  rises  and  falls  in  graceful  undulations,  the 
eye  searches  in  vain  for  some  trace  of  the  grand,  the  thrilling 
and  the  sublime.  The  waters  ripple  with  a  silvery  and  soothing 
melody. 

"The  airs  we  feel, 
Which  'round  us  steal, 
Seem  murmuring  to  the  murmuring  keel." 

-  Clouds  of  satin  and  silver  float  in  the  soft  air,  the  fitting  dra- 
pery of  slowly  moving  but  invisible  gods  of  idleness  and  repose; 
while  upon  the  sea  and  its  fairy  isles,  in  unending  variety,  are 
seen  in  great  profusion,  the  evidences  of  a  hand  divine,  that 

}65 


156  ISLES  OF  StlMMER. 

adorns  with  exquisite  loveliness,  all  forms  and  every  variety  of 
matter  which  it  touches. 

There  being  no  mountains  upon  any  of  the  Bahamas,  and  no 
high  surrounding  hills,  those  who  seek  for  health  and  pleasure 
upon  the  water  at  Nassau,  have  very  little  to  apprehend  from 
sudden  and  dangerous  gusts  of  wind  during  the  visiting  season. 
These,  sometimes  occur,  but  the  Bahama  winds  blow  with  re- 
markable uniformity  and  steadiness.  There  is,  at  times,  too 
much  wind,  but  it  is  rarely  unsafe  to  sail  in  Nassau  harbor,  on 
account  of  its  strength,  aiid  we  were  only  twice  becalmed,  and 
then  only  for  a  short  time.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  we  soon 
came  in  with  the  tide. 

The  Nassau  yachts,  as  a  rule,  have  a  good  breadth  of  beam, 
are  strong  and  staunch,,  and  with  competent  boatmen  at  the 
helm,  they  are  much  safer  than  ocean  steamers.  They  have  no 
complicated  machinery  to  get  out  of  order,  no  large  and  infernal 
looking  furnaces  to  threaten  purgatorial  fires  in  advance  of  the 
appointed  time,  and  no  high  i^ressure  steam  boilers  or  drunken 
officials  to  blow  one  up.  It  is  true,  however,  that  the  master  of 
a  Nassau  pleasure  boat  is  just  as  liable  to  be  overcome  with  liquor 
as  the  officers  of  steamships,  but  they  do  not  have  bar  rooms  on 
board  their  yachts,  and  if  sober  when  they  take  their  passengers 
on  board,  it  may  be  safely  assumed  that  they  will  remain  so  until 
the  return  of  the  boat  to  her  dock. 

It  is  reported  that  Captain  Sampson,  a  few  years  ago,  some- 
times when  on  shore,  failed  to  put  a  sufficient  quantity  of  water 
in  his  rum,  or,  to  speak  perhaps  more  charitably,  occasionally, 
by  mistake,  put  more  rum  in  his  water  than  was  necessary  to 
neutralize  the  effects  of  the  unhealthy  salts  it  contained  when 
taken  from  Nassau  wells,  and  that,  like  his  great  namesake,  when 
on  a  certain  occasion  his  hair  was  cut  too  short,  he  was  tempor- 
arily weakened  and  unmanned. 


VACSTS  AJCD  TACfiTIN-G.  157 

But  Sampson's  good  sense  proved  to  be  stronger  than  his  ap- 
petite, and  the  native  force  of  his  character  secured  a  very  cred- 
itable victory  for  his  higher  moral  nature,  and  vindicated  the 
goodness  and  strength  of  his  judgment.  When  sailing  with  him 
on  one  occasion,  after  we  had  delicately  alluded  to  this  subject, 
he  said, — "I  ha'nt  drinked  no  sperits  since  '76.  I  know'd  it 
wouldn't  do.  Why,  when  I  used  to  drink,  I  was  'fered  to  talk  to 
the  missuses — 'cause  I  'forod  they'd  smell  my  breth.  But  now 
I  isn't  'fered  at  all.  I  goes  'round  'em,  and  'mong  'em,  and  to 
windward  of 'em,  or  any  how — and  none  of  'em  kan't  smell  no 
liker  when  Sampson  talks  to  'em,  'bout  goen  sailen  in  his  boat." 

We  have  been  informed  that  in  Boston  harbor  several  lives  are 
lost  every  summer  from  the  capsizing  of  pleasure  boats;  that 
Boston  yachts  are  long  and  narrow,  and  that  in  their  construc- 
tion, as  well  as  in  sailing  them,  safety  is  subordinated  to  speed. 
But  here,  surrounded  by  intricate  channels,  and  the  waters 
abounding  with  submerged  rocks  and  reefs,  where  the  vessels  of 
commerce,  in  formidalde  numbers,  are  stranded,  and  the  busi- 
ness of  ''wrecking"  is  })ur.sued  by  many  of  the  islanders  undei- 
licenses  purchased  of  the  government,  we  have  yet  to  learn  of 
an  instance  where  a  serious  accident  has  ever  happened  to  a 
pleasure  boat.  The  "  Triton  "  carries  eight  thousand  pounds  of 
iron  ballast  and  draws  five  feet  of  water.  It  grounded  once  when 
we  were  on  board  of  her,  upon  a  bank  of  coral,  and  a  ton  of  bal- 
last was  thrown  overboard  to  get  her  off,  but  Sampson  declared 
fcuch  a  thing  never  liap])ened  to  the  "Triton"  before,  and  he 
would  not  have  the  affair  known  for  fifty  dollars.  lie  was  over- 
board in  the  water  so  long  trying  to  get  hor  off,  and  was  so  ex- 
cited and  nervous  about  it,  lliat,  alas  for  the  fast  color  of  his 
ebony  complexion,  he  fairly  turned  white.  Aided  by  the  friendly 
crew  of  a  passing  boat,  the  "Triton"  was  extricated  from  her 
difficulty  at  last,  and  the  diplomatic  Sampson  made  all  his  pas- 

14 


158  ISLES  6f  srifMfift, 

sengers  happy  by  a  perfect  shower  of  encomiums  upon  the  noble 
and  unexampled  manner  in  which  they  "  laughed  at  their  calam- 
ity," declaring  that  never  in  his  life  had  he  before  seen  ladies 
and  gentlemen  behave  so  well. 

An  old  U.  S.  naval  commander,  (Capt.  Fox),  addressing  our 
favorite  yachtman  one  day,  said : 

''When  you  go  out  with  sailing  parties  and  have  ladies  on 
board,  why  don't  you  take  along  your  small  boat,  for,  ballasted 
with  8,000  lbs.  of  iron,  if  the  'Triton'  should  upset  she  would 
go  right  straight  to  the  bottom  like  a  shot.  In  the  United  States 
navy  they  will  not  allow  a  boat  to  be  ballasted  with  anything 
but  water,  so  that  it  cannot  sink.  Now,  with  four  tons  of  ballast 
on  board,  what  would  you  do  should  your  boat  with  its  load  of 
passengers  upset?" 

With  emphatic  and  graceful  gestures  and  a  flashing  eye,  Samp- 
son answered: 

"  But  de  'Triton '  karn't  upset — 'tis  impossible.  Why  I  sails 
all  round  dese  yere  waters  in  all  kinds  'er  weather  for  mor'n  ten 
years,  and  I  knows  what  she  ken  do,  and  I  tells  yer  der  '  Triton  ' 
karn't  upset — kause  I  wont  let  'er." 

"  Well,  Sampson,  you  think  she'll  not  upset,  and  a  great  many 
men  as  experienced  and  capable  of  managing  boats  as  you  are, 
and  equally  confident,  have  been  drowned  at  last.  Now  why 
don't  you  take  your  small  boat  along  so  that  if  an  accident  hap- 
pens, and  you  have  ladies  on  board,  they  may  be  saved?" 

"  I  say,"  replied  Sampson,  speaking  with  an  energy  and  earn- 
estness with  which  a  native  deference,  respect  and  politeness  were 
singularly  and  pleasantly  combined,  "  I  know'd  what  der  Triton 
ken  do;  for  many  a  time,  when  I  ha'nt  got  no  passengers,  I  goes 
all  alone  by  myself  and  tries  her  in  every  place  'bout  yese  here 
waters,  and  I  studies  her.  and  tries  her,  and  larns  what  she  ken 
do,  and  I  tells  yer — not  to  say  as  how  I  do'snt  'spect  3-our  opinion 


YACSTIlS-^.  15() 

— I  knows  de  Triton,  and  I  knows  she  karn't  npset — 'taint  possa- 
ble — 'cause  Sampson  wont  let  her.  Why,  Sampson  karn't  'ford 
ter  have  'er  upset — 'twould  ruin  him.  I  couldn't  live.  No;  I 
keeps  watch  all  der  time;  I  keeps  my  eye  on  'er;  I  doesn't  'pend 
on  luffin'  'er  up  alone,  but  yer  see — with  one  hand  on  her  tiller, 
I  hold  the  main-sheet  in  t'other  hand  on  a  bite,  so  I  ken  instantly 
shake  der  wind  all  out  of  'er  main-sail  if  I  seed  it  coming  nor 
furrer  den  dat  house.  And  if  I  'spects  der  wind  any,  I  makes 
one  man  hold  'er  jib  sheet  on  a  flying  turn — 'cause  e'en  if  I  emp- 
ties 'er  main-sheet,  der  wind  in  der  jib  mite  upset  her — no  sah! 
I  tells  yer  der  Triton  can't  upset — 'cause  Sampson  wont  let  'er. 
But  I  'spects  yer  opinion,  an'  'twont  do  no  harm  to  take  der  small 
boat  along — but  no  sah!  she  karnt  upset." 

And  Caj^t.  Charley  Mitchell,  (now,  we  regret  to  say,  deceased,) 
between  whom  and  Sampson  a  friendly  rivalry  formerly  existed, 
upon  another  occasion  expressed  equal  confidence  in  the  Frolic, 
(a  center-board  yacht  which  he  sailed,)  and  in  his  ability  to  avoid 
serious  accidents  while  prosecuting  his  vocation  in  water  around 
the  island  of  New  Providence.  "Why,"  said  he,  ''nows'jDOse 
Mr.  I.,  ye're  way  oif  heah,  ever  so  far  from  yer  home,  with  only 
a  hundred  dollars  in  yer  pocket — wouldn't  you  be  karful  of  deni 
hundred  dollars?  Wouldn't  yer  mind  and  study  how  yer  spend 
'em?  Well,  now,  der  Frolic  is  for  Mitchell  dem  hundred  dollars. 
No,  sah!     Mitchell  isn't  gwine  to  lose  his  boat,  'cause  he'd  starve.  '* 

It  is  pleasant  at  times,  notwithstanding  some  increase  of  dan- 
ger, to  sail  outside  the  natural  breakwaters  of  the  harbor  of  Nas- 
sau, and  cultivate  a  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  an  ocean 
which  has  and  requires  great  continents  to  restrain  and  confine 
it  when  tossed  and  maddened  by  the  tempests,  or  when  stirred 
to  its  profoundest  depths  by  the  hurricane.  A  little  peril  adds 
an  agreeable  condiment  to  prosaic  life,  and  breaks  a  monotony 
which  finally  becomes  oppressive  even  in  an  atmosphere  that 


160  I8LE8  OF  SUMMEE. 

seems  ever  freighted  with  sensuous  pleasures,  and  never  stimulates 
to  heroic  deeds,  or  to  labors  and  duties  which  in  colder  latitudes 
characterize  all  forms  of  life  outside  of  the  vegetable  kingdom. 
We  were  therefore  predisposed  to  respond  favorably  to  the  propo- 
sition of  Sampson,  when,  upon  the  morning  of  the  20th  of  March, 
1879,  the  day  the  equinoctial  storm  arrives  at  the  north,  if  it  is 
on  time,  he  pro])osed  that,  as  the  wind  was  more  lively  than 
usual,  a  few  gentlemen  should  put  the  Triton  to  the  tost  as  an 
ocean  boat  by  going  outside  the  bar.  lie  is  always  a  ready  and 
fluent  speaker,  but  on  this  occasion  ho  seemed  to  have  more  and 
better  wind  than  usual  to  fill  the  capacious  sails  of  his  eloquence. 
Like  his  great  namesake,  of  biblical  fame  and  memory,  he  accom- 
plishes great  results  with  a  "jaw-bone.'' 

"I  don't  want  no  ladies  dis  iinio,"' said  he,  "  there's  a  leetle 
too  much  wind  to  take  der  ladies  along.  I  jess  want  to  shake  all 
der  reefs  out  of  der  Triton's  sails  and  let  her  go.  I'd  like  for 
once  to  show  der  gemmon  what  der  Triton  ken  do." 

Half  an  hour  afterwards  two  gentlemen  and  the  author  were 
seated  in  Sampson's  boat,  and  flying  down  the  harbor  of  Xassau 
under  full  sail.  Amos,  from  Harbour  Island,  a  colored  man  of 
much  nautical  experience  in  Bahama  waters,  and  of  more  than 
average  ability,  was  greatly  complimented  by  the  captain,  because, 
without  waiting  to  be  told,  he  went  quietly  to  work  and  prepared 
the  yacht  before  crossing  the  bar  for  the  Avashings  he  evidently 
anticipated  she  was  destined  to  get.  He  lashed  to  the  boat  the 
anchor  and  the  oars,  put  carpets  and  cushions  away  in  the  little 
forecastle,  made  fast  every  coil  of  rope,  got  ready  for  immediate 
use  the  large  sponges  which  are  here  employed  to  keep  boats  dry, 
and  brought  out  for  the  use  of  the  passengers  oil-cloth  suits,  more 
useful  than  ornamental,  and  sufficiently  capacious  to  keep  the 
salt  water  on  the  outside  of  a  man  in  case  the  ill-mannered  waves, 
presuming  too  much  on  our  very  limited  acquaintance,  should 


TESTING   THE   TRITON.  101 

persistently  attempt  to  take  possession  of  our  temporary  ''  house 
and  home."  William,  also  from  one  of  the  outer  islands,  obeyed 
orders,  and  made  himself  generally  useful. 

We  were  soon  out  upon  the  broad  Atlantic,  and  Sampson,  like 
the  rider  of  a  winning  horse  at  a  race,  experienced  a  gratification 
he  could  not  entirely  conceal,  as,  with  the  gracefulness  and  seem- 
ing speed  of  a  sea  gull,  his  yacht  pluckily  met  and  mounted  the 
high  rolling  billows,  which  we  could  not  but  remember  had,  in 
their  angry  moods,  strewn  with  wrecks  the  neighboring  shores. 
A  portion  of  one  of  those  wrecks  was  in  sight,  being  all  that  re- 
maina  of  a  blockade  runner,  whose  captain  took  his  steamer  to 
the  left  instead  of  the  right  of  Nassau  lighthouse.  Some  claim 
the  officers  were  all  drunk;  others  say,  "it  was  a  put  up  job;" 
but  all  the  boatmen  united  in  affirming,  that,  as  a  consequence, 
*'  boots  and  shoes  were  plenty  on  Hog  Island  " — those  articles 
having  constituted  a  part  of  her  cargo.  Certain  it  is,  that  hav- 
ing sailed  out  of  Nassau  harbor  one  afternoon,  the  vessel  returned 
in  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  and  was  beached.  Sampson  said, 
with  an  exultant  chuckle,  after  alluding  to  the  cargo  scattered 
along  the  shore,  that  *'  der  Cap'n  mistake  Nassau  light  for  der 
*  Hole  in  der  AY  all,' "  (a  well  known  light  upon  Abaco,  nearly  six- 
teen miles  distant.) 

The  larger  waves  moved  towards  us  in  stately  grandeur,  in  a 
regular  order  of  succession,  as  if  marshaled  and  marching  over 
the  bosom  of  the  ocean  under  the  guidance  and  direction  of  some 
invisible  god  of  the  seas.  After  evciy  nine  smaller  waves  had 
passed  by,  and  under  us,  the  long  liquid  platoon  was  marked 
and  bounded  by  a  billow  whose  approach  was  watched  with  much 
interest,  and  Avith  an  exhilarating  but  peculiar  pleasure,  as  it 
would  often  not  only  wash  our  forecastle  and  submerge  our  gun- 
nels, but  drench  us  from  head  to  foot,  and  make  lively  work  for 
William  and  his  sponges.     The  pure  ocean  air,  pleasantly  cool 


Ifi3  iSLE!^   01'"   StrMMfiK. 

and  more  than  usually  lively;  the  soft  white  clouds  moving  so 
majestically  across  the  clear  blue  sky;  the  exquisite  beauty  of 
the  islands  and  keys,  and  of  the  city  of  Nassau,  which  quietly 
rested  upon  the  rocky  hillside,  spiced  with  an  excitement  pro- 
duced by  a  sail  designed  to  demonstrate  ''what  der  Triton  could 
do  ''  in  a  free  wind  outside  of  the  shelter  which  the  natural  break- 
waters of  Nassau  afford — all  combined  to  give  us  a  very  high 
degree  of  exquisite  and  unalloved  pleasure. 

After  we  had  sailed  in  a  northerly  direction  out  into  the  ocean 
to  vindicate  the  truth  of  Sampson's  claims  in  reference  to  the 
good  qualities  of  the  Triton  in  rough  water,  we  sailed  in  an 
easterly  or  northeasterly  direction  along  the  windward  side  of 
Hog  Island,  crossed  Silver  Key  bar,  entered  water  that  seemed  as 
warm  as  any  confined  and  heated  by  a  July  sun  upon  a  northern 
shore — skirted  the  southern  line  of  Silver  Key — j)assed  through 
"the  Marine  Garden,"  a  region  of  submarine  coral  bowers  of 
marvelous  and  wondrous  beauty,  situated  between  the  east  end 
of  Hog  Island  and  the  west  end  of  Atliol  Island, — then,  turning 
to  the  west,  Ave  traversed  the  easterly  portion  of  the  harbor  of 
Nassau,  and  were  landed  safely  at  the  stone  steps  of  the  wharf 
which  Ave  had  left  some  three  hours  before.  The  latter  portion 
of  our  sail  having  been  in  waters  somewhat  sheltered,  Sampson 
was  better  able  to  amuse  us  with  a  chapter  or  two  taken  from  the 
A'olume  of  his  personal  experience. 

The  account  he  gave  of  his  visit  in  the  summer  of  1878  to  the 
city  of  New  York  was  particularly  interesting.  The  impression 
made  upon  his  wondering  and  astonished  mind,  graphically  and 
faithfully  described,  furnished  an  entertainment  of  the  most  droll 
and  comical  character.  Quick  to  see,  sensitive  to  feel,  and  gifted 
to  describe  with  a  genius  and  eloquence  all  his  own,  this  unlettered 
and  untraveled  negro,  mounted  upon  any  northern  platform,, 
could  not  have  failed  to  convulse  and  bring  down  the  house.- 


SAMPSON   IX    S'EW    VOim    CITY.  163 

Xerer  before  had  he  left  the  peaceful  quiet  of  this  little  island 
world.  Passing  over  nearly  a  thousand  miles  of  a  solitude  such 
as  only  the  immense,  pathless,  treeless  wastes  of  the  ocean  can 
produce,  he  landed  at  last  in  that  immense,  seething,  boiling, 
noisy  whirlpool  of  intensified  human  life — the  great  city  of  New 
York.  Afraid  of  being  cheated — afraid  of  being  robbed — afraid 
of  being  run  over — afraid  of  l)eing,  in  a  hundred  Avays  new  to 
him,  killed — not  merely  a  stranger  in  a  new  land,  but  an  ignorant, 
semi-tropical,  Bahama  African  in  a  babel  and  pandemonium  far 
surpassing  anything  his  imagination  had  ever  conceived,  he  seemed 
for  a  time  to  have  every  particle  of  life  taken  out  of  him.  The 
ferryboats,  constantly  passing  and  repassing  loaded  with  passen- 
gers— the  immense  labyrinth  of  streets  and  avenues,  stretching 
away  in  every  direction  farther  than  he  could  see — the  great, 
elaborate  and  expensive  buildings  of  every  description — the  street 
railroads,  and  particularly  the  vast  crowds  that  made  it  necessary 
to  carry  people  on  elevated  railroads  over  the  heads  of  those  rush- 
ing in  a  ceaseless  tide  below — and  the  loud,  harsh,  deafening  and 
infernal  mingling  of  noises  that  ever  ascended  day  and  night — 
all  wonderfully  impressed  him,  and  revealed  a  much  more  new 
and  strange  world  to  him  than  his  own  Bahamas  did  to  Columbus 
nearly  four  hundred  years  ago.  He  got  lost  in  New  York  seven 
times  the  first  day  after  his  arrival;  paid  ten  cents  to  go  to  Cen- 
tral Park,  and,  after  a  long  ride,  he  was  astonished  (and  almost 
scared  at  the  seeming  witchcraft)  to  find  himself  at  the  precise 
place  he  started  from.  "  Why,''  said  he,  "der  ting  had  turned 
round  and  I  know'd  nothing  'bout  it,  and  I  had  to  pay  my  ten 
cents  over  agin."  He  still  retains  a  vivid  impression  of  the  de- 
licious flavor  of  northern  strawberries,  but  ate  so  many  he  de- 
clared that  at  night ''  dey  confused  "  his  stomach.  His  sea  voyage 
seasoned  to  his  taste  everything  he  ate.  "  Why,"  said  he,  "Pd 
give  more  for  jess  wun  mutton  chop  like  as  dat  I  had  in  New 


164  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

York,  den  for  all  der  mutton  in  jS'assau."  Though  much  in- 
terested in,  he  was  glad  to  escape  from  New  York,  and  affirmed 
that  he  did  not  get  the  deafening  din  of  its  horrible  noises  out 
of  his  head  for  more  than  two  weeks  after  he  left  that  city. 

For  two  or  three  hours  after  we  landed,  we  were  busy  at  times 
wiping  the  crystals  of  salt  out  of  our  eyes,  which  were  occasioned 
by  the  waves  outside  of  Xassau  light  endeavoring  to  take  posses- 
sion of  our  boat.  As  we  recall  this  rather  foolhardy  sail,  it  brings 
to  mind  the  anecdote  of  the  newly-converted  negro  who  was  per- 
suaded to  be  baptized  by  immersion  in  the  ocean,  and  having 
accidently  slipped  from  the  grasp  of  the  officiating  clergyman 
while  his  woolly  head  was  under  water,  declared,  so  soon  as  he 
could  get  the  sea  out  of  his  eyes  and  mouth — ''Some  gemman 
kum  nare  losing  a  good  nigger  by  dis  yere  cussed  foolishness." 

Man  is  a  gregarious  animal,  and  Avhen  circumstances  bring  to- 
gether a  large  number  of  persons  who  are  mostly  strangers  to 
each  other,  they  soon  feel  the  influence  of  some  subtle  social  law, 
and  form  into  groups.  The  foolish  walk  in  company  over  the 
paths  of  folly  in  search  of  pleasure.  Here  music  binds  together 
with  her  tuneful  strings  and  harmonious  cords,  those  whose 
hearts  are  attuned  to  melody.  There,  S2)arkling  wit,  and  amus- 
ing story,  and  clever  anecdote,  flash  and  scintillate  from  the 
crystalizing  centers  of  another  hapi^y  group.  The  staid,  sedate, 
practical,  matter-of-fact  people,  in  their  little  corner,  meditate 
and  moralize  upon  the  solid  and  substantial  things  of  life,  and 
mourn  over  the  fast  and  foolish  ways  and  the  constantly  increas- 
ing extravagance  of  the  present  degenerate  age.  Some  are  soli- 
tary, and  got  all  the  light  and  heat  they  seem  to  need  by  burning 
oil  in  their  own  little  lamps. 

We  cannot  explain  how  it  happened,  but  at  Nassau  we  gener- 
ally found  ourselves  surrounded  by  congenial  people.  We  fre- 
quently speculated  tipon  what  we  had  lost  by  not  having  known 


THE   gazelle's   LOG.  165 

them   before,  and  wondered,  when  we  finally  separated,  if  we 
should  ever  meet  in  this  world  again. 

The  yachting  circles  to  which  we  were  attached,  form  clusters 
of  unfading  flowers  in  the  garden  of  memory.  They  were  com- 
posed of  persons  as  enthusiastic  as  we  were  in  their  expressions 
of  delight  when  viewing  the  exquisite  beauties  of  the  Bahama 
isles  and  waters.  Some  were  successful  merchants  from  the 
cities  of  the  great  west,  who  had  run  away  from  business,  and 
left  all  their  heavy  cares  behind  them.  They  seemed  as  gay  and 
sportive  as  children  at  play.  Light-hearted  and  joyous,  they 
winged  with  a  peculiar  pleasure  the  flying  hours.  A  log  was 
kept,  and  it  was  the  source  of  much  amusement.  Its  keeper, 
being  the  head  of  the  log,  was  voted  to  be,  without  any  inten- 
tional disrespect  to  the  turtles,  a  loggerhead.  Many  wandering 
ideas  and  gay  fancies  were  shot  on  the  wing,  captured,  and  em- 
balmed in  its  pages.  It  contained  much  entirely  new  matter, 
which  never  had  been  before  and  never  will  be  again  added  to 
the  wide  domain  of  letters. 

Several  portable  mills  ground  out  upon  the  water  detached 
stanzas  of  machine  poetry.  It  was  soon  suspected  that  some  of 
our  party,  when  preparing  to  enter  upon  the  voyage  of  life,  had 
made  mistakes,  and  gotten  on  board  the  wrong  boats.  Teas  and 
not  tragedies,  sugars  and  not  songs,  pork  instead  of  poetry,  had 
occupied  their  time  and  engrossed  their  thoughts,  to  the  great 
loss  of  themselves  and  the  world. 

A  dignified,  courtly  gentleman,  who,  several  years  before,  had 
crossed  the  dividing  line  which  runs  mid-way  between  youth  and 
old  age,  and  in  whose  bright  and  pleasant  e3'es  humor  was  lurk- 
ing in  ambush,  on  one  of  our  sailing  excursions  perpetrated  the 
following: 

We  venture  in  the  gay  Gazelle, 
Because  with  Amos  all  is  well, 
But  what  may  happen  uouc  can  tell. 


166  ISLES   OF   SUililEE. 

Instantly,  upon  his  giving  utterance  to  the  last  word  of  the 
last  line,  a  lady  added  as  a  refrain  or  snapper, — *'my  mudder  I"' 
borrowing  it  from  a  tenderly  filial  poem  which  little  Sankey 
sometimes  gave  us,  standing  in  a  chair  in  the  court  of  the  hotel. 
It  would  have  brought  down  the  house  had  there  been  one. 

This  caused  the  crank  of  another  mill  to  revolve,  and  the  fol- 
lowing stanza  was  thereupon  ground  out: 

Who  learned  us  all  this  much  to  tell, 
While  sailing  in  the  gay  Gazelle, 
And  o'er  us  came  this  magic  spell? 
My  mudder. 

After  the  laughter  and  applause  had  sufficiently  subsided,  a 
third  stanza  was  added  by  still  another  of  our  happy  group,  as 
our  yacht  glided  before  the  wind. 

To  landsmen  all  we  say,  farewell ! 

Your  troubled  hearts  you  now  may  quell, 

With  Capt.  Amos  all  is  well ; 

My  mudder. 

A  lady  contributed  in  pencil  the  following,  which  was  read  by 
the  keeper  of  the  Log: 

A  POEM.     Canto  I. 

It  was  in  breezy,  blustering  March 

That  we,  a  jolly  crew. 
Went  sailing  in  the  gay  Gazelle 

Upon  the  waters  blue. 

To  be  continued. 

This  literary  gem  was  deemed  all  that  could  be  expected  in 
such  a  climate  as  the  result  of  mill  work  for  one  forenoon. 


YACHTING   DIVERSIONS.  167 

The  loggerhead,  meanwhile,  had  not  been  idle,  and  occasion- 
ally added  a  stanza  to  complete  the  literary  bill  of  fare.  We 
give  them  connectedly: 

Like  mountain  lake— as  smooth  and  calm — 
The  waves  are  hushed  in  dreamy  sleep, 

While  perfumes  float  from  isles  of  balm, 
And  mm'muring  voices  from  the  deep. 

We  float  like  sea-birds  on  the  tide, 

We  tread  the  deep  with  muflled  keel, 
Like  spirits  of  the  air  we  glide, 

And  something  of  their  rest  we  feel. 

Like  sunset  isles  in  western  skies, 

Where  viewless  spirits  joyous  flit, 
Before  us  lie  the  coral  isles, 

And  happy  angels,  wingless,  sit. 

When  weary  toilers  picture  heaven, 

Unending  rest  is  their  ideal ; 
That  boon  to  coral  isles  is  given, 

Here  soon  we  learn  that  heaven  is  real. 

On  some  of  these  excursions  we  took  along  Thompson's  *'  Cas- 
tle of  Indolence,"  and  when  the  wind  was  not  too  strong,  it  was 
read  aloud  and  very  greatly  a2:)preciated.  It  seemed  as  if  its 
author  must  have  visited  the  Bahamas  before  composing  the 
poem,  his  pictures  so  perfectly  mirror  what  one  there  ever  sees 
and  feels.     Take,  for  example,  the  following: 

"  A  pleasing  land  of  drowsy  head  it  was, 

Of  dreams  that  wave  before  the  half-shut  eye, 
And  of  gay  castles  in  the  clouds  that  pass, 
Forever  flushing  'round  a  summer  sky; 
There  ekes  the  soft  delights  that  witchingly 
Instil  a  wanton  softness  through  the  breast." 


168  ISLES    OF   SUMMEE. 

While  sailing  in  the  Bahama  waters,  the  famous  sargasso  or 
gulf  weed,  cannot  fail  to  attract  attention.  It  is  constantly  in 
sight,  and  in  that  portion  of  the  ocean  world,  is 

"Ever  drifting,  drifting,  drifting 
On  the  shifting 
Currents  of  the  restless  main." 

Columbus  encountered  it  upon  his  first  voyage  to  the  new 
world,  a  few  days  after  he  left  the  Canary  islands.  The  frequent 
mention  which  he  makes  of  it  in  his  journal  is  evidence  that  it 
abounded  then  as  now.  He  also  noticed  the  crabs  that  it  con- 
tained— for  little  Crustacea,  it  seems,  have  long  been  accustomed 
to  have  their  domicils  in  these  fragile  and  floating  abodes,  which, 
no  doubt,  withstand  the  violence  of  an  angry  ocean  better  than 
the  strongest  ships  of  oak  and  iron  that  man  can  make.  This 
weed  is  sometimes  encountered  in  such  quantities  as  to  consti- 
tute what  has  not  been  inappropriately  termed  "sea  gardens." 

The  following  very  interesting  and  suggestive  description,  we 
copy  from  Kingsley's  "At  Last:" 

"One  glance  at  a  bit  of  the  weed  as  it  floats  past,  shows  that 
it  is  like  no  fucus  of  our  shores,  or  anything  we  ever  saw  before. 
The  difference  in  looks  is  indefinable  in  words,  but  clear  enough. 
One  sees  in  a  moment  that  the  sargassos,  of  which  there  are  sev- 
eral species  on  tropical  shores,  are  a  genus  of  themselves  and  by 
themselves;  and  a  certain  awe  may,  if  the  beholder  be  at  once 
scientific  and  poetical,  come  over  him  at  the  first  sight  of  this 
famous  and  unique  variety  thereof,  which  has  lost  ages  since  the 
habit  of  growing  on  rock  or  sea  bottom,  but  propagates  itself 
forever  floating;  and  feeds  among  its  branches  a  Avhole  family  of 
fish,  crabs,  cuttlefish,  zoophytes  and  mollusks,  Avhich,  like  the 
plant  that  shelters  them,  are  found  no  where  else  in  the  world. 
And  that  awe,  springing  from  the  "scientific  use  of  the  imagi- 


THE   GULF   AVEED.  169 

nation,"  would  be  increased  if  he  recollected  the  theory — not 
altogether  impossible,  that  this  sargasso  (and  possibly  some  of 
the  animals  which  cling  to  it),  marks  the  sight  of  an  Atlantic 
continent  sunk  long  ages  since;  and  that,  transformed  by  the 
necessities  of  life  from  a  rooting  to  a  floating  plant, 

"Still  it  remembers  its  august  abodes," 

and  wanders  'round  and  'round  as  if  in  search  of  the  rocks  where 
it  once  grew." 

''When  fresh  out  of  the  water  it  resembles  not  a  sea  weed  so 
much  as  a  sprig  of  a  willow  leaved  shrub,  burdened  with  yellow 
berries,  large  and  small;  for  every  broken  bit  of  it  seems  growing 
and  throwing  out  ever  new  berries  and  leaves — or  what  for  want 
of  a  better  word,  must  be  called  leaves  in  a  sea  weed.  For  it 
must  be  remembered  that  the  frond  of  a  seaweed  is  not  merely 
leaf,  but  root  also;  that  it  not  ouly  breathes  air,  but  feeds  on 
water;  and  that  even  the  so-called  root  by  which  a  seaweed  holds 
to  the  rock  is  really  only  an  anchor,  holding  mechanically  to  the 
stone,  but  not  deriving,  as  the  root  of  a  land  plant  would,  any 
nourishment  from  it,  therefore  it  is  that  to  grow  while  uprooted 
and  floating,  though  impossible  to  most  land  plants,  is  easy 
enough  to  many  seaweeds,  and  especially  to  the  sargasso." 

The  expense  of  yachting  at  Nassau  is  generally  apportioned 
per  capita,  and  the  charges  of  the  boatmen  are  quite  moderate, 
so  that  a  great  deal  of  enjoyment  is  thereby  secured  for  a  very 
little  money.  Although  there  is  a  good  circulation  of  air  on 
shore,  the  change  to  that  of  the  harbor  is,  when  the  hot  sun  is 
well  up,  a  decided  improvement,  and  outside  of  the  barrier  keys 
the  wind  over  the  ocean  seemed  more  strongly  medicated  and 
tonic.  For  sanitary  reasons,  therefore,  we  would  strongly  rec- 
ommend Nassau  visitors  to  spend  a  portion  of  each  pleasant  day 

15 


170  ISLES   OF   SUMMEK. 

upon  the  water.  There  is  no  part  of  our  Xassau  experiences 
which,  when  fur  away,  gives  us  more  happiness  in  the  retrospect; 
and  often 

The  white-winged  boats  with  sable  crew, 

The  fleecy  clouds  that  draped  the  skies, 
The  gales  of  health  that  constant  blew, 

The  waters  striped  with  brilliant  dies, 
The  cradle-waves  that  ever  rocked 

'Gainst  far  off  cloud-embroidered  wall. 
The  skies  whose  blue  the  deep  sea  mocked. 

The  sunny  hearts  that  gilded  all — 
Return  with  e'en  an  added  power 
To  brighten  many  an  idle  hour. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Namau  as  a  SanitaHuw.  Its  Mikl  and  Geiurally  Salubrious  Climate..  Its 
Freedom  from  Cold  Waves  of  Air,  and  Cold  Currents  of  Water.  Its  Vulner- 
able Po.'nis.  No  Absorbing  and  Filtering  Sands.  Impurities  Endangering 
it<  Water  Supply,  and  Poisoning  the  Air.  A  High  Degree  of  Ileeit  in  the 
Si/ji.  Di.'ie^xses  upon  the  Islands.  Small  but  Crowded  Human  Ant  Hills. 
The  Tellow  Fever  in  Nassau  in  1880.  The  Pestilence  in  other  Neighboring 
Cities  at  Other  Times.  The  A  ngel  of  Health.  Rides  Ufon  Hurricanes.  CUans- 
ing  the  City.  Constant  Vigilaice.  and  Activity  of  Nassau's  Board  of  Health 
Essential  to  its  Safety.  Who  may  Hope  for  Relief  and  Cure  in  Nassau.  Not 
the  Best  Place  in  which  either  to  be  very  Sick  or  to  Die.  Frost  a  Factor  in  the 
Problem  of  Civilization.  Human  Development  and  Progress  Dependent  upon 
Ice.     Sea  Bathing  all  Winter. 

"  Tlie  breath  of  a  celestial  clime, 
As  if  from  heaven's  wide  open  gates  did  flow 
Health  and  refreshment  on  the  world  below." — Bbtant. 

If  Nassau  has  any  great  value  to  the  American  people,  it  is  as 
a  health  resort.  It  is  claimed  to  be  the  *'  Great  Sanitarium  of  the 
Western  World."  Much  that  is  written  and  published  upon  this 
subject  is  ins|)ired  by  personal  interest,  and  in  such  cases  a  one- 
sided and  warped  presentation  of  the  facts  of  the  case  is  a  natural 
consequence.  Many  conGdently  express  crude  opinions,  hastily 
formed,  and  bottomed  upon  a  few  ill-disrested  surface  facts,  and 
thus  act  the  part  of  bliiul  leaders  of  the  l)lind.  AVe  have  strongly 
felt  the  great  responsibility  which  rests  upon  those  who  volunteer 
their  advice  or  opinion  in  matters  so  important. 

It  is  not  without  a  good  deal  of  hesitation  that  we  publish  the 
result  of  our  diagnosis  of.  the  Bahamas.     We  made  the  best  of 

171 


172  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

our  limited  opportunities,  and  we  have  endeavored  to  collect  and 
decide  upon  the  facts  with  judicial  fairness.  "We  do  not  ask  the 
reader  to  adopt  our  views,  but  only  to  take  our  testimony  for 
what  it  may  seem  to  be  worth,  and  to  consider  it  in  connection 
with  that  of  others  whose  opinions  may  be  entitled  to  more 
weight. 

The  climate  of  the  Bahamas,  in  its  normal  condition,  seemed 
to  us  fairly  described  in  the  lines  we  have  quoted  at  the  com- 
mencement of  this  chapter,  although  they  were  written  of  the 
mountain  air  of  Western  Massachusetts.  But  when  the  poet 
declares — (we  substitute  the  word  ''ocean"  for  ''mountain") — 
that 

"Suns  cannot  make 
In  this  pure  air  the  plague  that  walks  unseen  ; 
The  ocean  wind,  that  faints  not  in  thy  ray, 
Sweeps  the  blue  stream  of  pestilence  away," 

he  states  what  cannot  be  truthfully  said  of  Nassau  or  its  suburbs, 
and  what  is  not  probably  true  of  any  of  the  thickly  inhabited 
portions  of  the  globe. 

Nothing  is  easier  than  to  poison  the  purest  air.  Without  con- 
stant care  and  vigilance,  the  waste  matter — the  sewage  incident 
to  permanent  abodes — will  become  any  and  everywhere,  (the  re- 
gions of  unending  frost  alone  excepted,)  the  prolific  source  of 
disease  and  death.  Through  window  and  door,  through  crack 
and  crevice  the  pestilence  will  enter.  Nature  affixes  penalties 
to  her  sanitary  laws  which  execute  themselves.  The  code  of 
health  which  she  has  established  is  learned  at  a  fearful  cost  in 
sick  rooms,  in  cemeteries,  and  in  mortuary  records.  In  pushing 
our  inquiries  into  the  sanitary  conditions  of  Nassau,  it  will  not 
do  to  look  only  at  her  ocean  winds,  "the  breath  of  a  celestial 
clime."    We  must  examine  "the  earth,  and  the  waters  under 


SAifiTARY  AN*»  METEOROLOGtCAt.  173 

tlie  earth."  It  is  proverbial  that  there  maybe  '*  death  in  the 
pot;"  but  "we  should  never  forget  that  it  is  equally  true  that  there 
is  often  death  in  the  pitcher  and  the  pail;  and  good  physicians 
in  our  day,  when  a  malignant  disease  is  developed,  immediately 
examine  the  character  and  condition  of  the  water  supply. 

The  reader  must,  in  regard  to  this  question  of  health,  keep 
ever  in  mind  those  peculiarities  of  the  Bahama  islands  which  we 
have  endeavored  to  describe.  Perfectly  shielded  from  the  cold 
by  the  Gulf  stream,  which  throws  its  warm,  wide,  watery  arm 
around  them  on  the  west  and  north — a  shield  which  the  frost 
king  finds  absolutely  impenetrable — it  is  ensured  an  atmosphere 
of  unending  summer.  Winter,  in  our  sense  of  the  word,  is  liter- 
ally unknown;  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  islands  are  exempt 
from  the  diy,  scorching  heat,  which  banishes  the  white  race  from 
tropical  regions  in  many  parts  of  the  world.  The  polar  currents, 
aciueous  and  aerial,  are  completely  transformed  when  they  en- 
counter the  Gulf  Stream,  and  all  the  discomfort  is  quickly  taken 
out  of  them,  so  that  the  Bahamas,  languidly  reclining  in  the  lap 
of  summer,  are  slightly  but  agreeably  refreshed  by  the  coldest 
winds  that  ever  reach  them  from  the  north  and  west. 

It  is  in  this  that  their  superiority  as  a  winter  resort  for  the 
American  people  over  the  states  of  the  Gulf  consists.  Upon  the 
main  land,  the  north  winds  make  a  clear  sweep  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  There  is  nothing  to  obstruct  their  course.  The  valley 
of  the  Mississippi  seems  to  have  been  scooped  out  to  facilitate 
their  progress.  With  the  Appellachian  chain  of  mountains  on 
one  side,  and  tlie  Gulf  Stream  on  the  other,  a  great  highway  is 
formed  for  Boreas  over  both  the  land  and  water  sides  of  our  At- 
lantic coast.  And  he  travels  over  it  in  his  icy  chariot  altogetlier 
too  frequently  for  the  health  and  comfort  of  those  who  leave  their 
northern  homes  to  search  for  summer  in  either  of  the  states  of 
the  south. 


m 


ISI-EA  6F  St?MME!i. 


The  remarkable  uniformity  of  the  temperature  of  Nassau  will 
appear  from  an  examination  of  the  following  meteorological  table 
copied  from  the  official  report  of  Gov.  Rawson  for  1864,  page  14, 
compiled  from  the  records  kept  at  Nassau's  Military  Observatory, 
It  gives  the  ''Mean  of  Daily  Observations  on  Week  Days  for 
Ten  Years,  from  1855  to  1864." 


Months. 

Thermometer 
at  9  A.  M. 

Wiud  at  9  a.  m. 

Rainfall 

on 
Ground 

Mas. 

Med. 

Min. 

Four  Chief  Points  in  Order  of 
Prevalence. 

in 

Month. 
Inches. 

Jan. 
Feb. 
Mar. 
April 
May- 
June 
July 
Aug. 
Sept. 
Oct. 
Nov. 
Dec. 

75 
76 

78 
81 
84 
88 
88 
88 
86 
83 
79 
77 

70 
71 
72 

75 
78 
81 
82 
81 
81 
77 
74 
73 

66 
66 
66 

68 
71 
74 
75 
75 
75 
73 
70 
69 

N.  E. 
N.  E. 

E. 
N.  E. 
N.  E. 
S.  E. 

E. 

E. 

E. 
N.  E. 
N.  E. 
N.  E. 

E. 

E. 
S.  E. 

E. 
S.  E. 

E. 
S.  E. 
S.  E. 
N.  E. 

E. 

E. 

E. 

S.  E. 
S.  E. 
N.  E. 

S. 

E. 
N.  E. 

S. 

S. 
S.  E. 
S.  E. 

E. 
S.  E. 

N. 

S. 

N. 
S.  E. 

S. 

S. 
N.  E. 
N.  E. 

N. 

N. 
S.  E. 

N. 

2.4 
2.4 
4.5 
2.4 
6.9 
6.4 
6.5 
6.7 
5.2 
7.4 
2.8 
2.4 

Average 

82 

76 

71 

4.6 

From  the  foregoing  and  from  an  examination  of  other  special 
tables  contained  in  his  report,  Gov.  Rawson  draws  the  follow- 
ing conclusions: 

1.  Barometer.  That  the  mean  height  of  the  barometer  at 
Nassau  is  exactly  thirty  inches. 

3.  That  it  attains  its  greatest  height  in  the  three  months  from 
December  to  February,  and  is  lowest  in  October  and  November. 


METEOROLOGICAL.  175 

3.  That  there  is  a  constant  dilference  in  the  observations 
taken  in  the  morning  and  afternoon,  averaging  for  the  whole 
period  a  decrease  of  0.05  height  in  the  afternoon. 

4.  Tliat  the  difference  between  the  average  of  maximum  and 
minimum  observations  in  the  ten  years  has  fluctuated  between 
0.25  and  0.46. 

Thermometer.  1.  That  the  four  months,  June  to  Septem- 
ber, are  the  hottest,  and  of  nearly  equal  temperature,  viz. ;  88°. 

2.  That  January,  February  and  March  are  the  three  coldest 
months,  and  of  nearly  equal  temperature,  viz. :  6(5°. 

3.  That  the  greatest  maximum  heat  exceeds  the  average  heat 
by  not  more  than  12°,  and  that  the  greatest  mimimum  falls  short 
of  it  10°.     The  extreme  variation,  therefore,  is  22°. 

Rainfall.  1.  That  tlie  chief  yearly  rainfall  is  from  May  to 
October,  and  is  heaviest  in  October.  During  these  six  months 
it  amounted  to  forty-four  inclies,  and  during  the  remaining  six 
months  to  nineteen  inches;  and  that  the  greatest  rainfall  does 
not  correspond  with  the  greatest  pressure  of  wind. 

Wind.  1.  That  the  highest  winds  prevail  in  November  and 
January,  and  the  average  from  Octol^er  1st,  March  inclusive, 
greatly  exceeds  the  average  of  the  remaining  six  months,  and 
that  there  is  little  difference  between  morning  and  afternoon. 

2.  That  north-easterly  and  easterly  winds  are  the  most  preva- 
lent  from  September  to  February,  during  which  months  they 
blow  during  one-half  or  two-thirds  of  the  whole  time.  North- 
erly winds  seldom  blow  except  during  those  months,  and  then 
only  for  three  days  in  a  month.  From  June  to  August,  the 
average  is  less  than  a  day.  Easterly  and  south-easterly  winds 
prevail  chiefly  from  March  to  August.  South-western  are  most 
prevalent  in  February  and  March,  to  the  extent  of  two  to  three 
days  in  a  month;  westerly  winds  from  February  to  April  to  the 
extent  only  of  one  to  one  and  a-half  days  in  a  month,  and  dur- 


176 


ISLES  OF   SUMMER. 


ing  the  rest  of  the  year  of  less  than  a  day  monthly;  northwesters 
from  November  to  March,  about  two  days  in  a  month.  Their 
relative  frequency  throughout  the  year  is  shown  in  the  following 
statement  of  the  percentage  proportion  of  days  in  a  year,  during 
which  they  prevailed  at  9  a.  m. 


North, 7.2percent. 

North-east, 26.2       " 

East, 34.4       " 

South-east, 18.6       " 


South, 11.0  per  cent. 

South-west, 5.0       " 

West, 2.3      " 

North-west, 5.3      " 


The  following  tables  are  copied  from  official  reports: 


METEOROLOGICAL  TABLE  FOR  1878. 


THERMOMETER. 

RAINFALL. 

Months. 

Max.  In 
shade 

at 
9  a.  m. 

Min.  in 
shade 

at 
9  a.  m. 

Max.  In 

sun 

ill  24 

hours. 

Mean 

at 
3  r.  M 

l'  s 

.2  -5 

rt     a 

o    ? 

"  3 
a  ^ 

3    .Z 

^  2 

January, 

Februar3^ 

March, 

76  5 

78.0 
835 
83.3 
86.5 
89.8 
89.5 
88.8 
87.3 
83.5 
79.0 
77.5 

61.0 
63.5 
65.3 

70.0 
75.5 

71.0 
74.5 
78.8 
78.0 
75.5 
71.0 
65.8 

140.0 
146  0 
149.5 
150  2 
156.5 
1540 
159.0 
157.9 
153.0 
153.0 
157.5 
155.0 

73.3 
73.9 
76.7 
80.4 
81.8 
84.0 
85.8 
85.8 
84.2 
81.1 
76.1 
73.8 

5.15 
7.05 
2.36 
3.19 
7.28 
6.56 
6.05 
9.25 
7.15 
7.87 
2.84 
1.38 

16 
11 

7 
8 

19 
20 
18 
24 
12 
10 
7 

1.10 
3.00 
1.05 

April, 

1.00 

Mav 

2.40 

June   

1.60 

July    

1.88 

Auonst, 

2.13 

September, 

October, 

November, 

December, 

1.60 
4.50 
1.21 
0.55 

Sums 

1001.0 

848.8 

1830.7 

956.9 

65.64 

159 

21.02 

Means, 

83.5 

70.7 

152.6 

79.7 

5.47 

13 

1.75 

THETi:OROLOGICAL. 
METEOROLOGICAL  TABLE  FOR  1879. 


177 


THERMOMETER. 


Months 


Max.  in 

shade 

at 

9  A.  M. 


January, .. 
February,. 
March,  .... 

April,  

May, 

June, 

July, 

August,.... 
September 
October,... 
November, 
December, 

Sums, 

Means,  .... 


77.0 
76.5 

78  5 
82.8 
83  8 
85.5 
88.0 
88.5 
87.5 
85.0 
81.5 
78.2 


Mill,  in 

Bliade 
at 

0  A.  M 


Gl  0 
64.2 
09. 5 

73  5 

70.5 
74.0 
71.2 
77.0 
70  0 

74  5 
CO  5 
67.0 


Max.  in 


in  24 
hours. 


145.0 

148.0 
153.5 
154.0 
155.5 
155  0 
157.0 
157.0 
153.5 
153  0 
1 48. 0 
150.5 


Min.  in 
sun 
at 

3  p.  M. 


73.6 

74,4 
75.6 
78.8 
80  5 
83  4 
853 
86.4 
84.6 
81.9 
77.2 
76.6 


0  92 

1.29 
2.84 
0.42 
3.85 
12.77 
7.43 
9.85 
8.02 
6.50 
7.98 
1.60 


6 

8 

6 

5 
13 
14 
18 
13 
20 
18. V 

6 
11 


Max. 

fall 

in  ■2'i 

hours. 


0  41 
0  05 
2  45 
0  20 
0  90 
5.37 
1.80 
3.11 
2  27 
1.60 
7.41 
0.95 


23 

11 

14 

3 

9 

26 

30 

16 

13 

25 

7 

1 


992.8 


839.1 


183.0 


957.3 


G3.47 


138L 


27.43 


82.7 


69.9 


152.5 


r9.8 


5.39 


11 


2.28 


Gov.  Eobinson  vouches  for  the  coi-rectness  of  these  tables  by 
inserting  them  in  his  reports  for  the  colonial  Blue  Books. 

The  weather  was  so  charming  when  we  were  at  Nassau  in  1879, 
the  thermometer  at  7  a.  m.,  week  after  week,  marking  sub- 
stantially the  same  temperature,  with  no  storms,  and  only  an 
occasional  shower,  tliat  Capt.  Fox  believed  that  Ave  were  favored 
with  weather  exceptionally  good,  and  through  the  kindness  of 
the  librarian  of  the  Xassau  public  library,  he  obtained  from  the 
Nassau  military  observatory  the  following  table,  showing  the 
highest  and  lowest  temperature  and  the  rainfall  at  the  end  of 
every  week,  for  six  months,  from  November  to  April,  both  in- 
clasivc,  for  the  vears  1878  and  1879. 


178 


ISLES   OF  SUMMER. 


1877. 

1878. 

Thermometer. 

Thermometer. 

Week  Ending 

Rainfall. 

Week  Ending 

Rainfall. 

Deg. 

Deg. 

Deg. 

Deg. 

Nov.     3 

.12 

90 

72 

Nov.     2 

.54 

87 

71 

10 

3.98 

99 

71 

9 

.19 

81 

67 

17 

.49 

84 

65 

16 

2.44 

82 

64 

24 

.24 

82 

66 

23 

.11 

82 

65 

Dec.     1 

.80 

85 

61 

30 

.10 

85 

66 

8 

.19 

85 

67 

Dec.     7 

.68 

82 

62 

15 

.00 

78 

65 

14 

.55 

81 

65 

22 

.20 

78 

67 

21 

.13 

82 

65 

29 

1.26 

83 

61 

28 

.02 

82 

63 

1S78. 

1879. 

Jan.      5 

.00 

80 

56 

Jan.      4 

.00 

83 

62 

12 

1.50 

82 

61 

11 

.03 

81 

62 

19 

2.12 

84 

59 

18 

.05 

85 

62 

26 

.32 

82 

59 

25 

.84 

83 

58 

Feb.     2 

1.13 

81 

59 

Feb.     1 

.00 

74 

71 

9 

1.00 

81 

59 

8 

.03 

74 

64 

16 

2.19 

85 

62 

15 

1.09 

74 

68 

23 

1.44 

83 

60 

22 

.02 

76 

66 

Mar.     2 

2.42 

84 

61 

29 

.15 

75 

66 

9 

.40 

83 

63 

]\Iar.     8 

.10 

72 

69 

16 

.04 

89 

66 

15 

2.50 

75 

73 

23 

1.87 

84 

64 

22 

.24 

76 

73 

30 

.05 

89 

63 

29 

.00 

78 

76 

April    6 

.56 

89 

62 

April    5 

.20 

80 

74 

13 

1.20 

83 

61 

12 

.00 

79 

74 

20 

.31 

86 

65 

19 

.15 

83 

74 

27 

.22 

85 

67 

£6 

.02 

78 

73 

There  are  serious  discrepancies  between  the  tabulated  reports 
which  we  are  unable  to  reconcile  or  explain,  and  we  give  them 
to  our  readers  as  we  find  them.  It  appears  that  the  temperature 
at  Nassau  from  November,  1877,  to  May,  1878,  was  not  very  dif- 


MT:TEOROLO(^,trAL.  179 

feront  from  that  of  the  same  months  in  1878  and '79;  but  the 
rainfall  during  the  same  months  in  1878  and '79,  aggregated  only 
10.18  inches,  Avhile  during  the  corresponding  period  in  1877  and 
'78,  it  amounted  to  24.05  inches.  Indeed,  during  our  visit  in 
1879,  there  was  so  little  rain  that  a  consequent  failure  of  the 
fruit  crop  was  apprehended.  The  average  rainfall  for  the  ten 
years  covered  by  Gov.  Rawson's  summarized  meteorological  table, 
during  corresponding  months,  is  16.9  inches.  It  thus  appears 
that  the  Nassau  weather  from  l^ovember,  1877,  to  May,  1878, 
was  very  excej)tionally  wet,  while  during  the  next  following  cor- 
responding period  the  weather  was  exceptionally  dry. 

While  at  Nassau  in  1879,  we  were  accustomed  to  daily  observe 
the  thermometer  and  barometer,  and  a  pencil  meteorological 
record  upon  the  white  wall  of  the  hotel  court  was  made  by  a  very 
intelligent  and  rclia1)le  gentleman  from  Canada,  every  morning 
at  7  o'clock.  The  unvarying  steadiness  of  the  temperature  and 
atmospheric  pressure,  seemed  so  incredible  to  some  of  the  guests, 
tliat,  half  in  earnest  and  half  in  jest,  they  declared  that  the  ther- 
mometer and  barometer  had  been  "lixed  up  and  doctored."  I 
give  the  state  of  the  thermometer  at  7  a.  m.,  for  each  day,  from 
February  1st,  to  ^Marcli  12th,  inclusive: 

1879— G8,  G7,  G3,  C4,  06,  68,  72,  77,  70,  70,  71,  70,  71,  70,  69, 
68,  69,  71,  70,  69,  65,  65,  68,  70,  69,  70,  72,  72,  70,  69,  68,  69, 
70,  69,  70,  70,  70,  70,  70,  71  degrees.  For  the  four  last  days,  at 
two  P.  M.,  the  thermometer  stood  at  75,  74,  74,  75  degrees,  and 
generally  the  difference  between  seven  a.  m.  and  two  p.  m.  was 
very  small  in  the  shade.  The  barometer  varied  but  a  trifle  from 
tliirty  inches. 

But  in  the  noon-day  sun,  especially  in  the  narrow  streets  lead- 
iip  from  the  water,  over  the  hard,  white  limestone,  and  between 
the  high  white-washed  stone  walls,  the  heat  is  very  excessive, 
und,  but  for  the  breeze  that  constantly  blows  from  off  the  water. 


180  iSLES  OF  srMMER. 

it  would  be  too  much  for  any  but  salamanders  and  Congo  negroes. 
This  side  of  the  picture  is  seldom  given  to  the  public.  The 
tables  I  have  copied  from  Gov,  Robinson's  reports  are  a  marked 
exception  in  this  particular,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred.  It 
is  easy,  however,  to  avoid  exposure  at  mid-day>  and  to  take  one's 
rides  or  walks  in  the  morning  or  in  the  latter  part  of  the  after- 
noon. While  yachting,  little  inconvenience  is  experienced  from 
this  cause,  as  it  is  customary  to  take  along  a  supply  of  umbrellas 
to  assist  the  sails  in  throwing  shadows  upon  the  passengers.  The 
water  is,  without  exception,  of  a  most  agreeable  temperature, 
and  the  tireless  wind,  that  Avith  remarkable  constancy,  ruffles  its 
surface,  while  leaving  a  tawny  and  enduring  impress  of  its  most 
welcome  caresses,  is  freighted  with  the  grateful  bcnisons,  uttered 
or  unexpressed,  of  all  who  feel  its  cooling  and  rejuvenating  in- 
fluences. The  simile,  "as  fickle  as  the  wind,"  seemed  there  to 
have  little  applicability. 

Writing  from  beneath  the  shade  of  one  of  her  nol^le  moss  draped 
live  oaks,  at  Mandarin,  upon  the  right  bank  of  the  St.  John's 
river,  in  Florida,  the  gifted  author  of  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  speak- 
ing of  Florida,  says  in  her  "  Palm  Leaves:" 

"Sudden  changes  from  heat  to  cold  are  the  besetting  sin  of 
this  fallen  world.  It  is  probably  one  of  the  consequences  of 
Adam's  fall,  which  we  are  not  to  get  rid  of  till  we  get  to  the  land 
of  pure  delights.  It  may,  however,  comfort  the  heart  of  visitors 
to  Florida  to  know  that  if  the  climate  here  is  not  in  this  respect 
just  what  they  would  have,  it  is  about  the  best  there  is  going." 

If  the  word  "about,"  in  the  last  sentence  quoted,  is  used  in 
the  sense  of  ^^  near  to^''  then  it  is  strictly  correct,  for  the  climate 
of  Florida  is  "near  to,"  (being  only  two  days  sail  from)  that  of 
the  Bahamas.  Whatever  may  be  said  to  the  discredit  of  these 
islands,  they  are  certainly  not  chargeable  with  that  "besetting 
pin  of  this  fallen  world "  to  which  Mrs.  Stowe  refers. 


triTIPORM  TTlMPERATtTRi!.  iSl 

While  no  one  can  be  any  more  sure  in  Nassau  than  he  is  at 
home,  or  anywhere  else,  of  escaping  an  exceptionally  wet,  and 
to  that  extent  disagreeable,  Avinter,  he  can  rely  with  great  confi- 
dence upon  having  there,  niglit  and  day,  an  atmosphere  of  a 
pleasant  and  uniform  summer  temperature. 

It  is  difficult  for  a  native  and  untraveled  Bahamian  to  appre- 
ciate what  is  written  at  the  north  about  "the  domestic  hearth," 
and  ''cheerful  fire-side."  As  poets  do  not  confine  themselves 
exclusively  to  the  truth,  but  use  their  "poetic  license,"  the  Ba- 
hamians naturally  deem  Longfellow's  lines  the  out-cropping  of 
a  wild  fancy  when  he  sings: 

"Each  man's  chimney  is  Iiis  golden  milestone ; 
Is  tlie  central  point  from  which  he  measures  every  distance, 
Through  the  gateways  of  the  world  around  him." 

Certain  it  is,  there  are  few  such  "milestones"  in  T»[assau. 

Persons  who,  for  any  reason,  find  it  necessary  to  avoid  the 
cold,  damp  winds  and  storms  of  the  North,  will  find  at  Nassau 
a  climate  that  fully  fills  the  measure  of  their  wants  from  the 
middle  of  November  to  the  middle  of  April.  But  temperature 
and  clear  skies  arc  not  the  only  points  to  be  considered  in  deter- 
mining the  (question  of  the  importance  of  Nassau  as  "a  great 
sanitarium,"  and  we  have  therefore  extended  our  o])servations 
and  pushed  our  inquiries  in  other  directions. 

The  drinking  water,  the  drainage,  the  existence  and  ol)servance 
of  sanitary  regulations,  the  topography  and  condition  of  the  ad- 
jacent back  country,  as  well  as  the  quality  and  direction  of  the 
winds  that  pass  over  it,  are  all  important  factors  in  the  problem 
of  health,  and  should  be  carefully  examined  and  critically  con- 
sidered. 

It  is  just  here  that  Nassau's  most  vulnerable  points  are  discov- 
ered, and,  but  for  the  superior  sanitary  arrangements  of  the  Royal 

16 


182  ISLES  OF  SUMMES. 

Victoria  Hotel,  they  would  be  miicli  more  damaging  to  the  place 
as  a  health  resort.  Wells  and  cisterns,  in  the  absence  of  sand, 
are  sunk  in  the  soft,  porous,  limestone  rock,  in  the  vicinity  of 
cessjoools  and  privy  vaults,  so  that  the  water  they  contain  can 
hardly  fail  to  become  more  or  less  unwholesome.  In  many  wells 
the  water  is  said  to  rise  and  fall  with  the  tide,  but  whether  its 
quality  is  impaired  by  sea  water  we  are  not  informed.  There 
being  no  general  sewerage  system,  the  surface  rock  is  likely  to 
become  saturated  with  the  waste  and  effete  matter  that  is  suffered 
to  accumulate  around  human  habitations  where  the  climate  dis- 
inclines to  exertion,  and  exhalations  may  be  expected  to  arise 
therefrom,  which  will  jeopardise  health  and  life. 

The  colored  people  who  are  crowded  together  in  the  suburbs 
of  Xassau,  pay  little,  if  any  regard  to  nature's  sanitary  laws,  and 
apparently  conform  to  few  of  the  conditions  of  healthy  human 
existence.  While  they  live  in  the  open  air  during  the  day,  they 
at  night  are  crowded  together  in  the  one  or  two  rooms  of  their 
little  cabins,  from  which  the  outside  air  is  religiously  excluded 
by  closed  doors  and  wooden  shutters.  Perhaps  they  have  learned 
by  exper];fenoe  the  necessity  of  thus  excluding  the  damp  and 
poisoned  air  that  rests  upon  the  low,  Avct  lands  of  the  interior  of 
this  island.  Their  poverty  denies  to  them  the  advantages  of  a 
generous  diet  of  varied  food  which  is  everywhere  within  the  reach 
^f  honest  labor  in  the  States. 

That  the  seeds  of  disease,  at  least  during  the  night,  float  in 
the  air  above  the  swamps  and  lagoons  of  the  central  jDortions  of 
the  island  of  New  Providence,  is  apparent  to  any  thoughtful  ob- 
server who  either  crosses  it  or  sees  it  from  any  of  the  neighboring 
hills.  The  germs  of  sickness  existing  there  are  never  destroyed 
or  rendered  torpid  by  frost.  In  the  mild,  soft,  damp  air,  disease 
is  present,  and  often  dispenses  his  fevers  with  a  liberal  hand,  as 
the  official  records  and  statistics  clearly  demonstrate.     Consump- 


UXSANITART   CONDITION'S.  183 

tion  also,  upon  a  galloping  steed,  rides  in  the  suburbs  of  Nassau 
Avitli  an  unchecked  rein  to  his  goal — the  portal  of  death.  It  is 
possible  for  leprosy  to  lurk  in  the  dense  chaparral  of  low  lands, 
and  under  the  thick  mangro  groves  that,  with  living  arches  and 
festoons,  beautify  and  adorn  the  miniature  islands  that  rise  out 
of  the  ^shallow  waters  of  the  brackish  and  stagnant  lakes. 

The  city  of  Nassau,  as  we  have  shown,  is,  in  a  sanitary  point 
of  view,  very  favorably  situated.  Bottomed  upon  a  rock  of  a 
porous  nature,  which  dips  towards  the  harbor,  and  speedily  ab- 
sorbs or  carries  off  the  heaviest  rain-falls,  facing  the  north  and 
skirting  the  sea,  having  within  its  limits  no  low  and  wet  lands, 
the  prevailing  winds  come  to  it  directly  from  the  ocean  laden 
with  refreshment  and  health.  We  examined  the  annual  medical 
reports  of  the  surgeon  connected  with  the  military  department 
at  Nassau  for  eleven  years,  from  1807  to  1878.  Only  that  of 
1873  gave  statistics  of  the  wind.  From  that  report  it  appeared 
that  during  the  year  1873  the  wind  blew  from  the  south  at  nine 
o'clock  A.  M.  only  three  times — once  in  Juno  and  twice  in  Novem- 
ber— and  at  three  o'clock  p.  m.  only  once  during  the  entire  year, 
and  that  was  in  November.  The  report  states  that  ill  1873  the 
Avind  blew  from  the  north-east  on  175  days,  at  nine  a.  m.,  and 
from  the  south-east  111  days,  and  that  at  three  p.  m.  it  was  north- 
east 185  davs,  and  south-east  121  days;  while  it  blew  from  the 
west  only  two  days.  During  the  ten  years  covered  by  Gov.  Ra\H 
son's  table,  which  we  have  quoted,  the  wind  from  the  south  is 
stated  to  have  averaged  eleven  days  in  a  hundred.  The  wind 
was  from  the  south  very  rarely  while  we  were  at  Nassau  in  1879, 
but  it  atoned  for  its  long  intervals  of  absence  by  being  very  sul- 
try, debilitating,  and  exceedingly  disagreeable.  As  it  sweeps 
over  the  low,  wet  surface  of  the  center  of  the  island,  we  believe 
it  unfavorable  to  health,  although  the  distance  is  measured  by  a 
very  few  miles.     While  we  were  at  Nassau  in  1880,  the  wind  was 


184  ISLES  OF  StJMMER. 

more  frequently  from  the  south  and  the  -weather  was,  as  in  the 
States,  exceptionally  hot,  and  for  that  reason  Nassau  was  much 
less  attractive. 

The  Royal  Victoria  Hotel  is  provided  with  tanks  for  the  stor- 
ing of  rain-water,  which  are  said  to  have  a  capacity  of  300,000 
gallons.  The  water  is  exclusively  used  for  drinking  and  culi- 
nary purposes,  and  it  always  appeared  to  be  of  most  excellent 
quality.  Ice,  from  the  state  of  Maine,  is  procured  under  a  con- 
tract which  the  government  made  for  the  supply  of  the  city,  of 
which  there  was  always  an  abundance  at  the  hotel.  The  water 
of  the  hotel  is  therefore  most  excellent  and  unexceptional 
provided  proper  care  and  vigilance  are  exercised  in  cleaning 
the  tanks,  and  guarding  and  keeping  them  from  impurities. 
During  the  latter  part  of  the  hotel  season  of  1878-9,  after  a 
long  protracted  drouth,  dysenteric  complaints  were  alarm- 
ingly prevalent  at  the  Victoria  Hotel,  and,  although  physicians 
were  numbered  among  its  guests,  no  one  seemed  able  to  dis- 
cover their  cause.  There  was  nothing  disclosed  in  the  taste, 
color  or  smell  of  the  drinking  Avater  which  indicated  that  it  had 
anything  to  do  with  the  trouble.  The  more  we  pondered  upon 
the  cause,  the  more  we  were  puzzled.  Before  leaving  Nassau  we 
read  the  '^ Brief  Auto-biography"  of  the  former  rector  of  one  of 
the  churches  in  Nassau,  the  late  Rev.  Wm.  Strachan,  D.  D.,  who, 
in  1822,  established  a  church  and  was  for  sometime  its  rector 
upon  one  of  the  Turks  Islands.  The  latter  part  of  the  following 
extract  from  the  little  book  (p.  58)  excited  in  us  some  incredulity: 

"I  found  no  wells  in  the  island,  and  learned  that  the  only 
water  to  be  had,  either  for  drinking  or  cooking  purposes,  was 
the  rain  which  drops  from  the  clouds,  and  is  received  into  capa- 
cious tanks  attached  to  the  several  houses.  A  stranger  must  be 
cautious  how,  and  in  what  quantities,  he  imbibes  the  rain-water 
at  first,  as  it  is  liable  to  produce  a  severe  dysenteric  attack." 


DYSINTERIC   COMPLAIN'TS.  186 

In  calling  the  attention  of  one  of  the  military  officials  at  Nas- 
sau to  this  subject,  and  to  the  paragraph  we  have  quoted,  he 
said  : 

*'  Soon  after  my  first  arrival  in  Nassau,  I  was,  in  common  with 
some  other  officers  of  the  garrison,  troubled  with  severe  griping 
pains  in  the  bowels,  which  I  suspected  wa3  caused  by  impure 
water,  and  I  caused  the  water  in  the  cisterns  to  be  drawn  off. 
At  the  bottom  I  found  a  dark  colored,  dirty  deposit,  two  to 
three  inches  thick.  I  had  the  cisterns  thoroughly  cleaned,  and 
the  result  was  the  griping  pains  disappeared." 

When  in  April,  1879,  we  returned  to  Jacksonville,  Fla.,  we 
learned  that  dysenteric  complaints  had  made  their  ajipcarance 
among  the  guests  of  the  St.  James  Hotel,  that  the  water  in  the 
cisterns  of  the  hotel  was  discovered  to  be  very  impure,  and  offen- 
sive to  the  taste  and  smell.  In  Jacksonville  as  well  as  at  Nassau 
there  had  been  a  long  season  of  dry  weather,  so  that  the  cisterns 
were  drawn  down  low,  and  the  dirt  at  the  bottom  no  doubt  in 
both  places  poisoned  the  water — hence  the  sickness  that  followed 
its  use. 

Upon  our  return  to  the  north  we  sent  the  substance  of  the 
foregoing  facts  to  the  proprietor  of  the  Royal  Victoria  Hotel, 
and  he  promised  to  have  the  cisterns  of  his  hotel  emptied  and 
cleaned. 

Thus  disease  and  death  sometimes  lurk,  and  wait,  and  watch 
for  victims,  where  they  are  looked  for  least,  ^yhile  at  Nassau, 
in  1880,  we  had  no  evidence  of  the  existence  of  any  of  the  dysen- 
teric troubles  that  existed  in  1879.  Spring  water  is  utilized  at 
the  hotel  for  some  purposes,  and  a  bountiful  supply  is  carried  to 
tanks  elevated  over  the  water-closets  by  means  of  a  steam  pump, 
and  a  suspicion  existed  when  the  bowel  comj^laints  made  their 
appearance,  that  some  of  it  had  been  used  for  cooking  purposes, 
Tlie  hotel  officials,  however,  denied  that  it  had  been  so  used. 


186  ISLES  Of  summek. 

The  dews  at  Nassau  are  often  very  heavy,  and  it  is  prudent  to 
follow  the  poet's  advice,  and 

"The  dews  of  the  evening  most  carefully  shun, 
Those  tears  of  the  sky  for  the  loss  of  the  sun." 

Some  old  residents  of  Nassau  informed  us  that  they  considered 
the  evening  air  in  Nassau  prejudicial  to  health.  One  of  them — 
a  lady — said  that  she  was  obliged  to  exclude  herself  from  it  to 
avoid  lung  disease.  But  Avhen  night  after  night  so  many  bright 
stars  call  to  us  from  a  cloudless  sky  to  come  out  and  look  up — 
and  especially  when  the  moon  rides  in  great  splendor  across  the 
bluest  of  heavens  on  purpose  to  bo  seen,  it  seems  hardly  courteous 
or  creditable  to  ignobly  ensconce  ourselves  under  mosquito  bars, 
and  be  content  with  indolent  repose  or  oblivious  sleep.  When 
we  occasionally  accepted  of  the  invitation,  it  was  only  to  be  over- 
whelmed with  the  magnificence  of  the  display,  as  was  Moses  on 
Sinai. 

The  official  Bahama  mortuary  statistics  which  we  examined, 
failed  to  discriminate  between  the  races,  and  to  so  localize  the 
results  that  a  comparison  can  l)e  made  between  Nassau  and  its 
suburbs.  The  medical  reports  of  the  military  department  de- 
scribe the  colored  troops  as  being  very  licentious,  and  a  large 
portion  of  them  suffer  from  venereal  diseases.  These  complaints 
are  said  to  have  been  introduced  into  Grant's  Town  by  French 
troops,  when,  upon  the  breaking  up  of  Maxamillian's  Grovernment 
ill  Mexico,  the  vessels  which  were  transporting  them  to  France 
stopped  on  their  Avay  at  Nassau. 

As  a  matter  more  of  curiosity  than  of  practical  utilit}',  we  sub- 
join an  abstract  of  the  reported  causes  of  death  in  all  the  Bahama 
islands  in  1864.  It  is  taken  from  Gov.  Rawson's  report  for  that 
year. 


NIGHT  AIR.      MORTITARY  ftTATISttCi^. 


W 


Cattses. 


Fevers : 

Ordinary,  

Yellow, 

Scarlot  Eruptive,  &c., . .. 

Diseases  of  Lungs  and  Heart,.. 

"        "  Bowels  and  Liver, 

Dropsies, 

Diseases  of  Brain  and  Nerves: 

Apoplexy  and  Pais}"-, 

Convulsions  and  Spasms, 

Sudden  and  Violent, 

Stillborn,  

Childbirth, 

Other  causes 

Total, 


Average  Quarterly 
Number. 


33 
1 
14 
34 
14 
7 

6 

24 

10 

2 

2 

45 


192 


38 

5 

6 

38 

22 

5 

4 

14 

10 

1 

3 

47 


192 


C.5 


63 
35 
12 
55 
26 
6 

3 

21 
7 
2 
3 

43 


274 


c  g 


58 
14 

9 
26 
19 

7 

G 
27 
9 
1 
5 
46 


230 


Percentage  Proportion. 


& 


16.G 

.4 

7.3 

17.8 
7.3 
3.6 

3.1 
12.6 
5.0 
1.2 
1.0 
34.1 


100.0 


d" 


19.7 

2.4 

2  9 

19.8 

11.4 

2.6 

2.1 
7.4 
5.0 
.7 
1.3 
24.7 


100.0 


& 


23.0 

12.7 

4.4 

20.1 

9.4 

2.1 

1.1 
7.5 
2.7 
.6 
1.2 
15.3 


25.4 
6.1 
3.7 

11.5 
8.5 
3.1 

3.6 
13.0 

4.1 
.6 

2.4 
20.0 


100.0 


100.0 


Gov.  Rawson  says,  "^Thc  inferences  to  be  drawn  from  this 
table  are  that  the  latter  half  of  the  year  is  mucli  more  fatal  to 
the  popitlation,  to  the  extent  of  nearly  one-third,  and  that  this 
is  owing  chiefly  to  the  prevalence  of  fevers,  including  yellow 
fever,  which  contributed  one-third  to  the  excess." 

"  These  islands  are,  without  exception,  remarkably  healthy. 
They  are  free  from,  and  are  seldom  visited  by  epidemic  diseases. 
Intermittent  fevers,  which  prevail  to  so  great  an  extent  on  the 
neighboring  continent,  are  comparatively  infrequent  here,  and 
usually  assume  a  mild  form.  During  the  last  thirty-five  years, 
Nassau  has  been  visited  by  the  cholera  but  once,  viz.:  in  1852; 
by  small-pox  in  1845  and  1860,  when  it  was  introduced  in  both 


18S  ISLES   OF  SUMMER, 

instances  from  St.  Domingo;  and  by  tlie  yellow  fever  at  distant 
intervals,  and  attended  with  very  slight  mortality,  viz. :  in  1829, 
1845  and  1853,  until  lSGl-2,  when  from  transient  circumstances 
it  assumed  a  more  malignant  form,  and  carried  off  a  greater  num- 
ber of  victims,  including  the  first  bishop  of  the  diocese.  It  re- 
peated its  visits  in  1863-4. 

''The  inhabitants  are,  for  the  most  part,  a  hardy,  robust  race. 
They  consume  little  animal  food,  and  live  chiefly  on  Indian  and 
Guinea  corn,  vegetables,  fish  and  shell-fish.  Many  of  the  petty 
cultivators  on  the  Windward  Islands,  who  cling  to  their  small 
plots,  and  refuse  to  seek  employments  as  hired  laborers  in  their 
own  or  other  islands,  are  often  reduced  to  much  distress  when 
their  meagre  crops  of  corn  fail  them  through  drought  or  other 
causes;  and  these  are  in  the  course  of  deterioration,  both  physi- 
cal and  mental,  enervated,  indifferent  to  improvement,  and  bring- 
ing up  their  families  in  ignorance  and  sloth. 

"Nassau  is  usually  very  healthy  and  free  from  disease.  In 
18G2-64,  during  the  height  of  the  blockade-running  trade,  when 
the  town  was  filled  with  strangers,  the  lodging  houses  were  over- 
crowded, and  the  elements  of  disease  were  festering  in  the  heart 
of  the  city,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  yellow  fever,  whether 
introduced  by  vessels  coming  from  infected  ports,  or  engendered 
by  the  unusual  condition  of  the  city,  should  have  broken  out. 
But  it  icas  confined  to  strangers  and  to  unacdlniated  ^^ersons, 
and  was  not  by  a"ny  means  fatal  as  compared  with  other  places. 

"  The  Board  of  Health,  a  body  constituted  under  a  local  Act, 
with  large  powers  for  the  protection  of  the  health  of  the  colony, 
reported  that  in  18G1-G2,  about  400  persons  were  attacked,  and 
ninety-five  died,  in  a  population  numbering  in  18G1,  11,503;  and 
that  in  18G4,  out  of  a  population  estimated  at  15,000,  the  num- 
ber of  cases  was  TOO,  and  of  deaths  137.  Of  these,  153  cases 
resulting  in  forty-five  deaths,  were  admitted  into  the  Quarantine 
Hos2)ital  from  the  shipping  and  lodging  houses.'' 


SANITARY    CONDITION^.  189 

It  should  be  considered  that  in  the  settlements  upon  some  of 
the  islands,  the  population  is  very  much  crowded,  and  that  the 
health  of  the  people  suffers  in  consequence.  Gov.  Rawson,  in 
his  report  for  1864,  estimated  that  the  population  of  Dunmore 
Town,  upon  the  island  of  Eleutbera,  was  2,500,  and  that  the 
density  was  "  about  forty  persons  to  the  acre,  or  124  square  yards 
to  each  individual,  which  is  nearly  six  times  the  average  of  the 
781  principal  towns  in  England  "  in  1861.  He  adds,  ''the  con- 
sequence is  that  for  the  last  two  or  three  years  the  place  has  been 
very  sickly,  and  typhoid  fever  has  committed  considerable  rava- 
ges among  the  inhabitants. 

Upon  a  little  key  at  the  extreme  north-west  point  of  Eleu- 
tbera, and  about  five  miles  from  Harbour  Island,  the  settlement 
of  Spanish  Wells  is  situated.  Grov.  Eawson  states  in  his  report 
of  1864,  that  the  inhabitants  of  Spanish  Wells  "have  continued 
to  divide  and  sub-divide  their  lots  among  their  children,  so  that 
the  houses  almost  touch  each  other,  and  in  some  places  the  (so- 
called)  street  is  not  over  three  or  four  feet  in  Avidth.  The  area 
of  the  settlement  does  not  exceed  three  acres;  so  that  the  popu- 
lation is  upwards  of  150  to  the  acre."  He  adds,  "they  are  un- 
cleanly in  their  habits,  and  all  attempts  to  introduce  sanitary 
rules  among  them  have  hitherto  failed.  Consequently,  tyjihoid 
fever  has  lingered  here,  too,  for  the  last  three  years." 

Gov.  Rawson  also  speaks  of  another  settlement  upon  Eleu- 
thera,  called  Governor's  Harbor,  where,  he  says,  "the  density 
of  the  population  equals,  if  it  does  not  exceed  that  of  Spanish 
Wells."  He  says  it  is  situated  upon  a  rock,  about  300  yards 
long,  by  100  yards  wide,  which  is  connected  with  the  main  land 
by  a  narrow  neck  of  land,  and  that  this  rock  is  "in  miniature, 
very  like  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar." 

He  also  states  that  "the  people  at  Devil's  Point,  upon  St. 
Salvador,  have  the  worst  reputation  of  any  upon  that  island," 


190  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

and  of  *' being  not  only  lazy,  but  addicted  to  the  most  vicious 
and  immoral  habits/'  Also,  that  upon  Acklin's  Island,  '"'the 
commonest  comforts  and  the  ordinary  necessaries  of  life  are  evi- 
dently wanting,"  which  he  attributes  in  part  to  the  indolent 
„  habits  of  the  people.  He  says  that  upon  Fortune  Island,  the 
ifpoiAe  (numbering  470)  "are  all  poor  and  unable  even  to  repair 
their  own  dwellings,  and  that  but  for  the  fish,  conchs  and  crabs, 
they  would  absolutely  suffer  and  perish  from  want  of  the  com- 
monest necessaries  of  life,  for  they  are  too  indolent  and  inactive 
jfitogo  where  their  labor  would  be  useful  to  themselves  and  others." 
^  We  give  these  facts,  not  as  fairly  indicating  the  average  char- 
acter and  condition  of  the  people  living  upon  the  Bahama  islands, 
but  as  illustrating,  1st,  that  no  air,  however  pure  and  delight- 
fully tempered  and  medicated  it  may  be  in  its  normal  condition, 
will  save  a  people  from  diseases  of  a  malignant  type  when  laws 
of  health  are  disregarded;  and  2d,  that  very  elaborate  health 
tables  are  of  little  value  if  they  fail  to  discriminate  between  places 
Avhere  the  sanitary  conditions  and  habits  of  life  of  the  people  are 
very  unlike — although  they  have  some  degree  of  geographical 
and  political  unity. 

We  did  not  learn  of  any  cases  of  yellow  fever,  cholera  or  small- 
pox, from  1864  to  1879.  In  Gov.  Robinson's  report  for  1878,  he 
states  that  "an  epidemic  of  whooping  cough  prevailed  for  sev- 
eral months,  causing  much  distress  and  some  mortality  amongst 
the  children  of  the  laboring  classes."  One  would  suppose  that 
in  such  a  climate,  if  whooping  cough  made  its  appearance  at  all, 
it  would  have  been  of  a  very  mild  type.  It  seems  to  have  been 
otherwise  in  1878. 

During  the  Avinter  and  spring  of  1880,  a  malignant  fever  re- 
sulted in  quite  a  number  of  deaths  at  Nassau,  and  it  is  our  belief 
that  it  was  yellow  fever,  and  we  will  state  the  evidence  upon 
which  our  opinion  is  predicated. 


l.f,     > 


THE  YELLOW  FEVEE.  191 

"Upon  the  morning  of  the  day  the  steamer  lef  c  New  York,  on 
which  we  had  engaged  our  passage  out,  a  gentleman  startled  us 
a  little  by  announcing  that  ''Nassau  had  got  a  black  eye."  He 
said  it  had  been  reported  in  the  States  that  the  yellow  fever  had 
broken  out  in  Nassau,  but  that  the  Governor  of  the  Bahamas  and 
the  foreign  consuls  at  Nassau  had  published  cards  denying  tl^^',' 
truth  of  the  report.  Our  steamer  stopped  at  Fernandina,  and  »^ 
gentleman  there  told  us  that  a  physician,  recently  from  Nassau,  ^ 
and  then  at  the  Egremont  Hotel,  in  Fernandina,  stated  that  be-  'h.i 
fore  he  left  there  had  been  in  Nassau  two  deaths  from  that  dis- 
ease. The  steamer  City  of  Austin  had  then  just  arrived  at  Fer- 
nandina from  Nassau,  and  one  of  its  passengers  assured  us  that 
there  was  not  any  yellow  fever  in  Nassau  when  he  left.  None 
of  our  passengers  were  alarmed  sufficiently  to  alter  their  plans, 
and  when  upon  the  day  of  our  arrival  in  Nassau  we  entered 
the  dining  room  of  the  Victoria  Hotel,  and  saw  how  merry  and 
healthy  and  hungry  everybody  seemed  to  be,  the  last  vestige  of 
the  yellow  fever  scare  disappeared.  For  some  days  no  allusion 
was  made  to  "Yellow  Jack,"  but  after  a  while  pretty  well  authen- 
ticated reports  reached  us  of  quite  a  number  of  cases  of  sickness 
and  death  within  the  city  limits,  but  outside  of  the  hotel.  It 
appears  that  the  disease  attacked  at  first  the  children  of  the 
natives,  some  twenty  or  more  of  whom  died.  It  was  said  that 
it  could  not  be  yellow  fever,  first,  because  it  was  confined  to  the 
children,  and  second,  because  none  but  children  belonging  in 
Nassau  had  been  attacked;  whereas  unacclimated  adults  were  the 
first  to  be  stricken  down  when  yellow  fever  prevails. 

After  which  we  learned  of  a  few  cases  of  alarming  sickness 
among  the  visitors  from  the  States  and  elsewhere,  several  of  which 
resulted  in  death.  One  of  the  latter  was  the  wife  of  Dr.  Aiken. 
She  was  previously  a  healthy  Avoman,  but  the  doctor  was  an  in- 
valid.    They  had  been  boarding  with  a  Nassau  gentleman  who 


192  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

held  the  office  of  Assistant  United  States  Consul.  This  case  oc- 
curred in  a  house  situated  upon  high  ground  very  near  to  the 
hotel,  which  the  owner  and  his  family  thereujion,  for  prudential 
reasons,  vacated.  Dr.  Aiken  then  came  to  the  Victoria  Hotel  to 
board,  and  he  was  afterwards  our  fellow  passenger  when  we  left 
Nassau  for  Florida.  He  told  us  that  the  disease  was  yellow  fever, 
and  that  the  sanitary  conditions  of  the  Vice-Consul's  premises 
outside  of  and  close  to  his  dwelling  house  were  very  offensive  and 
bad. 

Our  young  friend  from  Vermont,  Mr.  Plielps,  arrived  at  Nas- 
sau in  November  with  his  invalid  mother.  He  had  the  fever, 
but  his  mother  escaped,  although  she  took  care  of  him  night  and 
day,  with  the  exception  of  two  nights,  when,  by  advice  of  a  local 
physician,  she  entrusted  her  son,  while  convalescent,  to  the  care 
of  a  nurse  whom  the  doctor  recommended.  This  nurse  got  drunk, 
neglected  the  sick  man,  who  took  cold  in  consequence,  and  had 
a  relapse.  His  life  was  then  despaired  of  by  the  physicians,  but 
he  was  saved  at  last  by  an  experiment  which  the  mother  had  the 
sagacity  and  courage  to  make  upon  her  own  responsibility,  and 
without  the  knowledge  of  the  medical  attendants.  She  admin- 
istered, in  connection  with  the  prescribed  medicines,  some  kind 
of  salts,  (we  have  forgotten  what  kind,)  first  in  small  but  frequent 
doses,  watching  him  closely  all  the  while,  and  had  the  great  sat- 
isfaction of  seeing  the  fever  gradually  give  way,  and  finally  dis- 
appear. The  doses  were  increased  as  the  salutary  operation  of 
the  medicine  was  developed.  When  she  afterwards  told  the 
doctors  what  she  had  been  doing,  they  were  (as  she  represented 
to  us)  offended,  although  she  had  apparently  saved  the  life  of 
her  son  after  they  hod  announced  that  he  could  not  recover. 
With  the  exception  of  keeping  a  little  piece  of  camjDhor  gum  in 
her  mouth,  she  did  nothing  to  escape  the  contagion  of  the  dis- 
ease.    One  of  the  attending  physicians,  who  was  accustomed  to 


BEASONS  FOR  LEAVING.  193 

sit  upon  the  bed  of  the  sick  man,  she  believed  carried  the  disease 
to  his  own  home,  for  two  of  his  daughters  thereafter  had  the 
fever  and  died.  He  then  abandoned  his  house  upon  East  Hill 
street,  within  a  block  or  block  and  a-half  of  our  hotel,  and  moved 
with  the  remainder  of  his  family  to  ''Thompson's  Folly,"  where 
he  was  sure  of  the  best  kind  of  Bahama  air,  and  a  plenty  of  it, 
although  he  took  the  chance  of  being  blown  some  day  half  across 
the  Atlantic  ocean  by  a  hurricane.  Tlie  disease  was  not  pesti- 
lential but  sporadic,  and  although  it  was  near  to,  it  did  not  enter 
the  hotel.  It  was  evidently  a  very  undesirable  fever  to  have, 
whether  entitled  to  be  called  yellow  or  not.  Two  out  of  three  of 
the  resident  physicians  persistently  denied  that  it  was  yellow 
fever,  while  the  third  one,  who  was  in  Nassau  when  the  yellow 
fever  prevailed  at  the  time  of  our  late  American  war,  differed 
with  them  on  this  point.  A  gentleman  on  familiar  terms  with 
the  prominent  men  of  Nassau,  informed  us  before  we  left,  that 
it  was  not  at  first  believed  to  be  3'ellow  fever,  simply  because  it 
was  confined  to  children,  and  especially  to  the  children  of  natives, 
**but  now,"  said  he,  "that  it  has  attacked  adult  strangers,  they 
admit  it  to  be  yellow  fever. "  These  admissions  were  not  publicly 
made  or  generally  known. 

Our  attention  was  occasionally  attracted  by  consultations,  pri- 
vate and  mysterious,  of  persons  who  traveled  in  company.  A 
growing  and  constantly  increasing  desire  to  speedily  return  to 
the  land  of  the  starry  flag  was  discernable,  and  we  learned,  after 
a  while,  that  the  state-rooms  in  the  Nassau  steamers  for  their 
return  trips  had  been  secured  for  sometime  in  advance  by  certain 
wise  and  thoughtful  ones — among  whom  we,  alas,  were  not 
numbered.  There  was  no  panic,  but  only  a  quiet  and  commend- 
able exhibition  of  prudence.  So  far  as  we  could  learn,  no  cases 
of  fever  had  occurred  at  our  hotel,  and  nothing  was  observed  in 
its  immediate  vicinity  calculated  to  generate  or  invite  disease. 

17 


194  ISLES  OF  SUMMEE. 

Unfavorable  rumors  floated  more  or  less  loosely  in  the  soft  and 
silky  air,  but,  notwithstanding,  the  wings  of  fear  were  kept 
wonderfully  well  clipped.  Nor  did  we  permit  ourselves  to  be 
made  unhappy  by  unfavorable  possibilities.  We  knew  that  bor- 
rowed troubles  are  worse  than  real  ones;  but  still  the  fact  was 
too  patent  to  be  overlooked  or  ignored,  that  only  a  single  floating 
bridge,  of  limited  capacity,  connected  us  with  Florida's  wet  and 
flowery  land,  and  that  if  it,  for  any  cause  should  give  way,  as 
several  of  its  predecessor's  had  done,  it  might  be  some  weeks  be- 
fore its  owners  in  New  York  would  learn  of  ibe  disaster,  and  span 
the  Florida  gulf  with  a  substitute.  Nor  did  we  feel  any  strong 
desire,  personally,  to  "  lie  down  to  pleasant  dreams  "  in  the  white 
coraline  rock  of  ''the  greatest  sanitarium  of  the  western  world," 
even  though  a  colonial  capital  should  in  consequence  thereof  be 
beautified  and  made  forever  famous  by  our  monument. 

After  a  while  our  turn  to  depart  came,  and  a  feeling  of  great 
satisfaction — not  to  say  relief — came  over  us  when  we  bade  adieu 
to  the  great  sanitarium,  and  the  charming  picture  of  jewelled 
isles  in  a  turquoise  sea  disappeared  from  view.  Proudly  our 
steamer  skimmed  the  smooth,  untroubled  and  tranquil  world  of 
waters,  slowly  and  grandly  the  day  god 

"Steeped 
His  fiery  face  in  billows  of  the  west," 

while  the  night  was  made  glorious  with  its  canopy  of  brilliant 
stars.  It  spoke  well  for  our  ship,  and  for  the  hotel  in  which  we 
liad  spent  so  many  happy  hours,  that  in  neither  of  them  had 
there  been  a  single  case  of  serious  sickness  of  any  kind. 

Mr.  Phelps  and  his  mother,  and  Dr.  Aiken,  were  our  fellow- 
passengers,  so  that  it  seemed — especially  while  they  detailed  to  us 
tbeir  sad  experiences — tbat  we  were  brought  almost  into  the  very 
presence  of  the  much  to  be  dreaded  fever  itself.     But  a  kind  and 


A    CROWDED    STEAMER.  195 

merciful  Providence  so  ordered  it,  that  we  escaped  entirely 
unharmed  the  perils  of  sickness  and  of  the  sea,  and  as  our 
steamer  had  a  clear  bill  of  health,  we  were  saved  from  numbering 
among  our  experiences,  a  practical  acquaintance  with  the  inde- 
scribable attractions  of  the  quarantine  system  in  southern  ports 
in  very  warm  weather. 

About  four  weeks  afterwards  we  took  passage  in  the  screw 
steamer  City  of  Austin,  at  Fernandina,  for  Xew  York.  She  had 
Just  arrived  from  Nassau  with  a  large  number  of  joassengers,  in- 
cluding Mr.  Morton,  the  proprietor  of  the  Eoyal  Victoria  Hotel, 
together  Avith  his  principal  assistants.  The  children  of  the 
American  Consul  were  also  on  board,  and  Ave  learned  that  the 
Consul  and  his  Avife  designed  to  follow  them  so  soon  as  his  official 
duties  Avould  admit  of  his  leaving.  ^Ye  had  also  the  Episcopal 
Bishop  and  his  children.  The  Bishop's  Avife  Avas  one  of  the  vic- 
tims of  the  fever,  and  Ave  had  no  doubt  he  had  left  Nassau  because 
he  Avas  not  Avilling  to  incur  the  hazards  incident  to  a  residence 
there  during  the  Avarm  and  Avet  season  of  the  year.  We  could 
not  but  deeply  sympathise  with  him  in  his  great  affliction,  and 
half  regret  that  we  had  alloAved  ourselves  to  be  amused  at  the 
high  sounding  titles  Avhich,  upon  his  arrival  the  year  previous, 
helped  so  much  to  inspire  the  Bahamians  Avith  reverence,  if  not 
Avith  aAve.  Upon  ship-board  there  Avere  certain  i^ecnliarities  in 
his  every  day  costume,  as  striking  as  a  Chinaman's  pig-tail,  Avhich 
Avere  Avell  calculated  to  attract  attention.  They  Avcre  strongly 
suggestive  of  the  fact  that  the  man  AA-hom  they  adorned  Avas  not 
an  ordinary  individual.  But  in  the  shadoAv  of  his  great  bereave- 
ment, surrounded,  as  he  Avas,  Avith  his  pretty  but  motherless  little 
ones,  we  Avere  not  disposed  to  unfavorably  criticise  or  iuAvardly 
smile  at  the  peculiarities  of  his  costume.  AYe  did  not  make  the 
Bishop's  acquaintance,  buthcAvas  dignified  Avithout  seeming  vain 
and  conceited,  and  his  intelligent,  amiable  and  good  uatured 
countenance  quite  prepossessed  us  in  his  favor. 


196  ISLES   OF   SUMilEE. 

Our  ship  was  very  much  crowded,  and  some  passengers  slept 
upon  the  floor  of  the  main  saloon,  but  being  favored  by  pleasant 
weather,  and  no  pestilential  or  other  diseases  having  made  their 
appearance,  little  inconvenience  was  experienced.  We  ought  not, 
perhaps,  to  omit  one  instance  of  sickness  which  occurred  on 
board,  and  was  said  to  have  occasioned  at  first  some  uneasiness. 
The  sick  man  was  employed  upon  the  steamer,  and  a  physician, 
after  looking  him  over,  and  making  a  thorough  diagnosis  of  his 
case,  reported  that  his  patient  had  only  an  attack  of  '^  whiskey 
fever,"  and  that  he  would  be  all  right  in  the  morning. 

As  we  made  our  way  up  the  beautiful  harbor  of  New  York  in 
the  early  morning  of  a  charming  day,  and  felt  the  thrilling  and 
exquisite  pleasure  incident  to  a  safe  return  to  our  native  shores, 
we  almost  forgot  that  a  malignant  disease  had  recently  thrown 
unpleasant  occasional  shadows  over  us  upon  one  of  the  isles  of 
summer,  and  had  almost  brushed  against  us  Avitli  the  hem  of  its 
garment  as  it  passed  by. 

Mr.  Phelps  has  written  us  that  he  has,  since  his  return,  received 
letters  from  Nassau,  and  his  mother  has  entertained  several  per- 
sons Avho  reside  in  Nassau,  at  her  house  in  Vermont ;  that  his 
Nassau  corespondents  stated  that  at  the  time  of  their  writing, 
the  yellow  fever  prevailed  extensively  in  ISiassau,  and  that  it 
had  occasioned  many  deaths;  that  the  wife  and  two  children  of 
the  Wesleyan  minister  at  Nassau,  Major  Simpson  and  two  of 
his  children,  and  a  lady  visitor  from  Ontario,  Canada,  were 
numbered  among  its  victims.  Also,  that  the  local  physicians 
there  now  admit  that  Mr.  Phelps  had  "  the  genuine  yellow 
fever." 

Another  gentleman,  whose  sources  of  information  through 
correspondents  in  Nassau  are  at  least  equally  good,  though  less 
disinterested,  writes  us  as  follows:  ''The  fever  has  shown  itself 
spasmodically  at  Nassau  this  summer^  but  to  very  little  extent. 


YELLOW   FEVER   IX   SOUTHERN"   CITIES.  Wt 

The  town  has  been  very  thoroughly  cleansed,  and  if  the  recent 
hurricane  has  visited  Nassau,  as  it  probably  has,  the  germs  of 
the  disease  will  be  destroyed."  It  is,  therefore,  now  altogether 
probable,  that  the  sickness  which  occurred  in  Nassau  in  the  win- 
ter and  spring  of  1880,  was  of  the  yellow  fever  type.  That  it 
did  not  more  generally  prevail,  is  no  doubt  due  to  the  fact  that 
Nassau  is  so  well  ventilated  with  ocean  winds.  In  certain  locali- 
ties there  existed  conditions  favorable  to  its  spread,  and  in  these 
the  fever  germs  took  root,  so  that  the  disease  was  sporadic  and 
not  pestilential,  and  the  result  of  local  causes. 

The  fact  should  in  this  connection  be  stated,  as  a  matter  of 
justice  to  Nassau,  that  all  the  cities  of  the  Southern  States  and 
of  the  West  India  Islands,  have  been  occasionally  subject  to  the 
same  disease. 

An  apparently  intelligent  and  well-informed  correspondent  of 
"  The  Semi-Tropical," — a  monthly  magazine  formerly  published 
in  Jacksonville,  Florida — in  the  December  numl^er  of  that  jieri- 
odical  for  1877,  gives  some  instances  of  the  prevalence  of  this 
disease  which  are  worthy  of  consideration.  He  says:  "  In  1857, 
Jacksonville  was  visited  by  a  fatal  epidemic,  generated  by  the 
opening  of  the  railroad  through  a  swamjo  hole  in  the  heart  of 
a  little  hamlet  during  the  warm  season,  when  the  exhalations 
were  foetid  with  miasma.  It  was  confined  at  first  to  those  resid- 
ing in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  this  swamp,  and  radiated  from 
(hat  center,  but  did  not  cross  the  river.  It  was  as  destructive 
as  yellow  fever,  though  in  many  respects,  it  lacked  some  of  the 
essential  features  of  that  disease.  It  proved  fatal  to  an  alarming 
degree,  but  more  from  the  impossibility  of  securing  nurses  and 
])ropcr  assistance,  than  from  any  necessity  of  the  disease."  He 
adds  that  before  that,  yellow  fever  cases  from  the  West  Indies 
had  not  spread. 

He  also  refers  to  **a  few  fatal  cases  of  wliat  is  teiined  in  the 


West  Indies,  butcher's  fever,  which  occurred  two  years  since, 
[1875,]  in  Jacksonville,  Fla.,  about  the  market." 

Under  date  of  November  20,  1877,  while  his  article  was  part- 
ly in  type,  he  adds — "  Yellow  fever  has  been  proclaimed  in  Jack- 
sonville, and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  cause  the  most  false  ideas 
and  groundless  apprehensions  abroad. " '  He  adds  that  "  not  more 
than  five  cases  have  occurred,  and  in  regard  to  tliese,  some  of  our 
most  experienced  physicians  express  the  greatest  doubt."  But 
it  seems  to  be  consistent  with  the  code  of  medical  ethics,  to  doubt 
and  deny  if  thereby  the  spread  of  disease  may  be  prevented  or 
checked.  The  materia  medica  includes  moral  as  Avell  as  physi- 
cal poisons,  experience  having  shown  that  they  are  the  antidotes 
of  fear.     A  medical  man  from  Boston,  told  us  in  Nassau  that 

Dr,  of  Nassau,  could  not  be  much  of  a  jjhysician,  for  if  ho 

was,  he  would  not  say  that  yellow  fever  existed  there,  even  if  it 
did  in  fact. 

The  magazine  Avriter  refers  to  the  exemption  of  St.  Augustine 
from  yellow  fever  for  fifty  years  during  its  occupancy  by  the 
Spanish  and  British  authorities,  and  to  its  prevalence  in  1821. 
We  were  assured  that  cases  of  this  disease  occurred  in  St.  Augus- 
tine a  few  winters  since,  and  some  cases  are  occasionally  to  l)e 
expected  perhaps  in  all  cities  not  favored  with  frost. 

He  says  that  "in  1822,  the  yellow  fever  was  introduced  into 
Pensacola,  by  a  cargo  of  spoilt  fish  being  cast  upon  the  wharf." 

That,  ''when  the  yellow  fever  prevailed  in  the  town  of  St. 
Mary's,  Ga.,  about  1808 — a  place  of  great  general  health — sucli, 
he  was  informed,  was  the  state  of  the  atmosphere,  that  beef, 
twenty-four  hours  killed,  fell  from  the  hook  by  putrifaction,  and 
water  drawn  from  the  well  in  the  evening,  was  in  a  state  of  mu- 
cilage next  morning." 

In  1878,  the  yellow  fever  prevailed  at  Port  Royal,  and  we  were 
there  told,  that  fifty  persons  died  of  the  disease.     And  yet,  the 


TELLOTT   FEVER   IN   SOUTHERN   CITIES.  199 

place  is  quite  small.  The  feyer  is  supposed  to  have  been  caused 
by  digging  up  the  ground  to  make  certain  improvements  which 
•  the  railroad's  freighting  business  demanded. 

The  city  of  Fernandina  in  Florida,  is  pleasantly  situated  on  a 
rise  of  ground  upon  Amelia  Island.  Its  vicinity  to  the  ocean, 
"whose  winds  and  the  tides  that  flow  through  the  spacious  water- 
ways that  lead  to  it,  would  seem  to  secure  for  it  immunity  from 
malignant  diseases,  although  there  are  low  and  wet  savannahs  in 
its  immediate  neighborhood.  It  is  something  of  a  health  resort 
in  winter.  We  learned  while  there,  from  some  of  its  residents, 
that  the  yellow  fever  scourged  the  city  in  the  summer  of  1877. 
The  magazine  writer  whom  we  have  quoted,  refers  to  it  in  his 
article,  and  says  that  in  a  population  of  3000  there  were  1000 
cases  of  yellow  fever,  whicli  resulted  in  100  deaths.  He  states 
that  it  was  caused  by  opening  ditches  through  wet  lands  in  hot 
weather,  and  by  the  discharging  of  a  large  amount  of  ballast  from 
a  vessel  with  yellow  fever  on  board,  "  into  the  heart  of  the  town, 
and  in  the  midst  of  this  reclaimed  swamp;"  and  that,  "accord- 
ing to  a  well  established  law,  the  introduction  of  a  quick,  viru- 
lent disease  will  drive  out  or  characterize  all  local  diseases,  and 
become  epidemic." 

Notwithstanding  the  grave  and  serious  importance  of  the  sub- 
ject, one  can  hardly  refrain  from  smiling  when  he  sees  the  in- 
habitants of  a  fever-stricken  city  looking  to  a  hurricane  for  their 
deliverance,  as  travelers  and  pioneers  upon  the  great  western 
prairies  sometimes  fight  fire  with  fire.  Destructive  cyclones  have 
commissions  of  mercy  and  beneficence  to  execute,  and  God  not 
only  makes  *'the  wrath  of  man,"  but  the  angry  winds  ''to  joraise 
him."  The  blessed  angel  of  health,  when  driven  out  of  its 
strong-holds  in  the  cities  of  the  South,  and  upon  the  beautiful 
coral  isles,  harnesses  itself  to  a  hurricane  and  returns,  drivins: 
out,  scattering  and  destroying  its  enemy.     Incidentally  huge 


200  ISLES    OF    SUMMER. 

trees  are  torn  up  by  the  roots,  houses  blown  down,  and  some  lives 
destroyed,  but  health  and  happiness  pitch  their  tents  upon  the 
ruins.  Since  the  great  hurricane  of  18G6,  and  until  the  year 
1880,  the  yellow  fever,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  learn, 
though  domiciled  in  Havana,  has  been  a  stranger  in  the  Bahamas. 
We  trust  Nassau  will  for  many  years  to  come  be  free  from  its 
visitations. 

Altliough  Nassau's  sanitary  character  has  not  always  been  un- 
sullied, and  it  has  occasionally  suffered  a  "fall  from  grace,"  its 
reputation  as  a  sanitarium  has  generally  been  not  only  good  but 
well  deserved.  It  never  has  been  and  never  will  be  safe,  espec- 
ially in  countries  where  frosts  are  unknown,  to  violate  the  laws 
of  health  which  nature  has  imposed.  The  operation  of  these 
laws,  and  the  enforcement  of  their  penalties,  is  as  sure  and  silent 
as  the  revolutions  of  the  stars.  Disease  and  death  sleeplessly 
watch  from  their  coverts  at  the  gates  of  every  stronghold  of 
health.  Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  safety.  "A  little 
slumber,  a  little  folding  of  the  hands  to  sleep  "  in  the  drowsy  air, 
by  the  boards  of  health,  has  caused  many  happy  homes  to  be 
made  desolate  in  the  past,  as  it  will  in  the  future,  when  hard  but 
salutary  lessons  are  forgotten. 

If  Nassau,  for  six  consecutive  months  out  of  every  twelve,  is 
not  one  of  the  healthiest  places  in  the  world,  it  is  the  fault  of  its 
people.  From  November  to  April,  the  seeds  of  malignant  dis- 
eases will  not  germinate  in  its  healing  and  healthful  air,  if  wise 
sanitary  regulations  are  made  and  enforced.  She  owes  it  to  her- 
self, and  to  valetudinarians  in  the  British  American  Provinces, 
and  in  the  States  of  the  Union,  who  desire  to  seek  for  health 
within  her  limits,  to  sec  to  it  that  the  pure  air  which  nature 
wafts  to  her  constantly  from  the  ocean,  and  the  23i-^i'e  distilled 
water  from  the  clouds,  artificially  or  naturally  stored  in  its  coral- 
line rocks,  shall  not  be  polluted  and  made  inimical  to  health  by 
a  criminal  neglect  of  the  first  and  plainest  hygienic  principles. 


Nassau's  general  good  reputatioi^.  201 

"It  is  an  ill-wind  that  blows  no  one  any  good,"  and  the  peo- 
ple of  Nassau  live  largely  upon  the  misfortunes  of  others.  Disa- 
bled hulks  from  the  stormy  ocean,  and  from  the  troubled  sea  of 
human  life,  fly  to  it  as  a  harbor  of  refuge,  and  the  amount  paid 
for  salvage  in  each  class  of  cases,  aggregates  every  year  a  large 
sum.  By  a  liberal  expenditure  of  money  in  mapping  and  light- 
ing the  channels  of  commerce,  the  British  governmeiit  has  cur- 
tailed one  source  of  income,  which  will  be  in  a  measure  made  up 
by  the  adoption  and  rigid  enforcement  of  wise  sanitary  laws. 

For  the  benefit  of  our  readers,  we  give  the  views  of  a  number 
of  intelligent  gentlemen  in  regard  to  the  merits  of  Nassau  as  a 
health  resort.  They  were  written  from  different  stand  points, 
and  cover  periods  of  time  widely  separated. 

Peter  Henry  Bruce,  an  English  engineer,  was  commissioned 
in  1741,  to  build  and  make  good  the  defenses  of  Nassau.  After 
speaking  in  his  Memoirs  of  its  climate,  and  characterizing  it 
**as  the  most  serene  and  most  temperate  in  all  America,"  he 
says,  **it  is,  therefore,  no  wonder  that  the  sick  and  afflicted  in- 
habitants of  this  [English]  climate  fly  here  for  relief,  being  sure 
to  find  cure  here."  Thus  it  appears  that  its  fame  as  a  health 
resort  in  winter  was  well  established  nearly  a  century  and  a-half 
ago. 

Dr.  "W.  T.  Hutchinson,  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  highly  recom- 
mends Nassau  for  those  who  suffer  from  diseases  of  the  nervous 
system,  and  who  require  rest  for  body  and  mind,  for  brain  and 
muscle. 

Dr.  W.  Kirkwood,  of  Florence,  Italy,  affirms  his  belief  ''that 
the  climate  of  Nassau,  during  the  winter  months,  is  superior  to 
any  winter  resorts  for  pulmonary  invalids  "  which  he  has  visited, 
and  he  had  spent  four  years  in  Italy  and  the  South  of  France. 
But  we  conclude  it  was  a  hasty  opinion  based  upon  a  short  ex- 
perience of  Nassau's  mild  and  uniform  climate. 


202  ISLES  OF   SUMMER. 

Gen.  James  Watson  Webb,  said  in  1870,  that  ''from  the  first 
of  November  to  the  first  of  June,  there  is  not,  in  all  probability, 
any  spot  on  the  face  of  the  earth  so  desirable  for  persons  suffer- 
ing from  pulmonary  complaints."  From  the  facts  and  opinions 
we  have  given,  the  reader  will  judge  whether  this  unqualified 
recommendation  is  not  too  broad  and  sweeping. 

Dr.  F.  A.  Castle,  editor  of  "New  Remedies,"  with  more  dis- 
crimination, and  we  think  truth,  said  in  1877,  that  "  in  those 
forms  of  lung  trouble  where  there  is  profuse  expectoration  and 
perspiration,  we  should  hardly  think  of  recommending  patients 
to  visit  the  Baliamas.  But  in  the  early  stages  of  chronic  pneu- 
monia and  catarrhal  pneumonia,  in  tubercules,  convalescence 
from  acute  diseases,  and  in  exhaustion  from  over- work  and  woi-ry, 
the  advantage  of  being  able  to  live,  if  necessary,  out  of  doors, 
without  the  fatigue  of  heavy  clothing,  the  comparative  freedom 
from  risk  of  catching  cold,  and  the  purety  of  the  atmosphere, 
render  this  one  of  the  most  healthful  as  well  as  available  resorts 
of  which  we  have  any  knowledge." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Nelson  Millard,  writing  from  Nassau  in  March, 
1876,  said,  ''  Such  a  climate,  if  resorted  to  in  time,  often  works 
with  wondrous  curative  power  upon  affections  of  the  throat, 
bronchia  and  lungs — as  in  the  case  of  bronchitis,  I  can  testify 
from  personal  experience." 

Epes  Sargent,  Esq.,  a  gentleman  of  considerable  literary  cul- 
ture, but  whose  opinion  may  be  unconsciously  biased  from  the 
fact  that  he  keeps  a  boarding  house  at  Nassau,  says,  "  that  for 
all  [?]  diseases  of  the  lungs,  throat,  liver,  kidneys,  or  spine,  there 
is  no  climate  on  the  face  of  the  earth  superior,  and  I  doubt  if  any 
equal,  to  the  climate  of  Nassau."  And  again,  "  some  most  won- 
derful cures  of  pulmonary  diseases,  asthma,  rheumatism,  neural- 
gia and  bronchitis  liave  been  performed  almost  entirely  by  the 
climate.     In  the  first  stage  of  the  disease,  recovery  is  almost 


FAVORABLE   TESTIMONY.  203 

Certain."  Mr.  Sargeant  has  had  unquestionably  superior  oppor- 
tunities of  learning  the  facts,  and  his  opinion,  notwithstanding 
his  personal  interest,  is  entitled  to  considerable  weight. 

We  were  interested  in  1879,  to  hear  two  of  our  Nassau  friends 
who  had  been  at  the  Bermudas,  compare  them  with  Nassau.  One 
declared  that  the  Bahamas  weakened  and  debilitated,  while  his 
system  in  the  Bermudas  was  refreshed  and  invigorated.  Both 
winter  resorts  have  the  ocean  air,  but  one  is  cool  and  tonic — the 
other  so  warm  it  wilted  and  unstrung  him.  He  did  not  want  to 
see  the  Bahamas  any  more.  The  other  declared  the  Bermudas 
no  place  at  all  for  a  sick  man;  that  it  rained  there  all  the  time, 
and  was  therefore  damp  and  wet,  while  its  temperature  was  sub- 
ject to  gi-eat  fluctuations,  and  was  very  trying  to  invalids.  But 
Nassau,  he  affirmed,  was  just  the  place  for  a  sick  man  to  enjoy 
himself  and  get  well.  A  largo,  healthy  looking  and  intelligent 
man  who  was  returning  home  with  us  after  a  six  months'  resi- 
dence at  Nassau,  spoke  very  strongly  against  it.  He  did  not 
like  boating,  and  preferred  to  take  his  exercise  on  foot.  When 
the  sun  was  up  he  could  not  walk  out  because  it  was  so  very  hot, 
while  the  damp  and  unhealthy  night  air  made  out-door  exercise 
at  that  time  unsafe.  He  had  no  desire  to  go  there  again.  Other 
passengers  on  the  Savannah  steamer  in  1879,  including  the  author, 
felt  that  to  them  Nassau  had  been  a  great  sanitarium,  while  its 
bland  air,  beautiful  waters,  coral  bowers  and  bright  skies,  will 
ever  secure  for  it  a  most  prominent  place  in  the  mind's  store- 
liouse  of  pleasant  memories. 

The  wife  of  the  author  of  this  book  was  relieved  of  bronchial 
and  asthmatic  troubles  at  Nassau,  in  1879,  which  did  not  return 
while  she  was  at  our  sea-side  residence  upon  the  north  shore  of 
Long  Island  Sound  during  the  following  summer.  In  the  suc- 
ceeding fall  and  early  winter  the  old  troubles  again  made  their 
appearance  in  a  modified  form,  but  the  air  of  Nassau  in  March, 


fe6i  Isles  of  .suMsfEit. 

1880,  supplemented  by  that  of  Florida  in  April,  affected  an  ap- 
parent cure. 

We  knew  of  an  instance  where  a  person  suffering  from  catarrh 
of  the  bladder  found  great  relief  at  Nassau. 

A  judge  from  the  city  of  New  York  was  stopping  at  the  Vic- 
toria Hotel  when  we  arrived  in  1879,  who  was  sufferiDg  from 
what  was  thought  to  be  a  softening  of  t]ie  brain.  In  such  cases, 
perhaps,  a  more  tonic  atmosphere  is  desirable.  He  attempted 
to  resume  his  judicial  labors  soon  after  his  return,  but  found 
himself  incapacitated. 

We  made  the  acquaintance  at  Nassau,  in  1879,  of  a  lady  who 
was  then  apparently  cured  of  a  bronchial  disease,  but  she  had 
some  return  of  it  the  following  summer  in  tlie  mountains  of  North 
Carolina. 

It  is  impossible  in  a  great  many  cases  to  know  beforehand  with 
certainty  what  effect  the  air  of  the  Bahamas  will  produce — wheth- 
er favorable  or  unfavorable.  It  is  not  adapted  to  meet  the  neces- 
sities of  all.  Nassau  is  unlike  the  pool  of  Siloam,  that  cured  all 
comers.  Some  are  prostrated  in  its  warm  enervating  air.  A 
medical  gentleman  informed  us  that  in  confirmed  consumption 
it  relaxes  the  tissues,  and  that  severe  hemorrhages  follow.  If 
good  in  that  complaint  at  all,  it  is  only  in  its  early  stages.  This 
we  learned  both  from  observation  and  from  the  testimony  of 
physicians  on  the  spot.  One  of  these  said  to  us,  "Don't  recom- 
mend these  islands  for  consumption  and  rheumatism."  A  resi- 
dent physician  of  good  repute  declared  the  climate  bad  for  rheu- 
matism. A  young  clergyman,  prostrated  by  a  pulmonary  com- 
plaint in  the  dawn  of  what  promised  to  be  a  most  useful  life, 
went  over  in  the  same  steamer  with  us,  in  1879,  and  for  sometime 
it  seemed  doubtful  if  he  would  ever  be  able  to  leave  the  island 
alive.  We  were  told  in  Nassau,  in  1880,  that  his  health  waa 
improved. 


Who  xtAY  S::it>ECT  :be^efit.  S05 

As  Nassau's  position  is  isolated,  and  so  far  removed  from  the 
cities  of  the  north,  with  only  one  weekly  line  of  steamers,  and 
no  telegraph,  as  yet,  to  connect  it  with  the  States,  it  is  not  the 
place  one  would  ordinarily  select  in  which  to  be  very  sick,  and 
many  better  places  nearer  home  can  be  found  in  which  to  die. 
A  physician  whom  we  met  in  Nassau,  in  1879,  said  to  us:  "It 
costs  a  thousand  dollars  to  die  here.  In  one  instance,  last  year, 
(1878,)  $300  dollars  was  paid  for  the  use  of  a  small  building  as 
a  dead  house,  and  other  charges  were  in  proportion."  If  one  is 
dangerously  sick,  there  is  no  place  for  him  like  home,  with  its 
comforts  and  unbought  sympathies. 

To  those  who  are  weak,  debilitated,  over-worked  and  run  down, 
whose  feeble  hold  on  life  is  constantly  endangered  by  sudden 
fluctuations  of  temperature,  and  the  severe  storms  and  cold  winds 
of  the  north,  the  warm  and  beautiful  Islands  of  Indolence  and 
Sensuous  Repose,  attract  with  flattering  promises  of  permanent 
benefit.  New  leases  of  life  are  doubtless  accessible  to  many 
such  in  Nassau.  But  Ave  do  not  believe  that  either  shore  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  Madeira,  Florida,  or 
any  Isle  of  Unending  Summer,  can  furnish  desirable  homes  for 
white  people  in  health.  We  have  only  to  compare  the  natives 
of  the  States  north  of  the  old  Mason's  and  Dixon's  line  (includ- 
ing cold  and  bleak  New  England),  and  their  works,  with  ''the 
children  of  the  sun  "  and  their  neglected  opportunities,  to  be  sat- 
isfied on  this  point.  The  cold  north  wind  stimulates,  braces 
and  builds  up.  Every  blast,  fearlessly  and  boldly  breasted,  in- 
vigorates the  healthy  body,  enriches  the  blood,  and  gives  vitali- 
zing and  enduring  strength  and  power  to  the  mental  and  moral 
forces.  In  the  temperate  zone  the  mental,  moral  and  physical 
powers  of  man  reach  their  highest  development.  Frost  is  an 
essential  factor  in  the  problem  of  civilization.  All  human  pro- 
gress is  bottomed  upon  ice.     The  great  and  profound  truths,  the 

18 


206  ISLES  OV  SUMMER. 

hidden  Itiv/s  of  tlie  world  of  matter  and  mind  are  born  of  the 
north  wind  sweeping  over  the  snow  fields. 

Wandering  through  the  wilderness  of  streets  in  the  noisy  Bahel 
of  the  Empn-e  State,  only  seventy-four  miles  from  home,  a  little 
nnassimikted  globule  in  a  great  eddying,  boiling  sea  of  human 
life,  separated  and  isolated  from  familiar  scenes  and  faces,  and 
from  warm  and  SA'fhpathetic  hearts,  a  murky  and  crushing  feel- 
ing of  loneliness  that  we  cannot  dispel  pervades  the  soul,  and 
life  for  the  time  loses  its  value  by  reason  of  its  comjjarative  in- 
significance. But  the  frequent  mails,  the  long  lines  of  railroad, 
the  locomotive  with  its  ribs  of  steel  and  mouth  of  fire,  the  bridges 
of  steamboats  over  all  the  deep  separating  water-ways,  the  perfect 
net-work  of  telegraph  and  telephone  wires,  like  great  life-roots, 
still  closely  unite  and  bind  to  the  familiar  places  and  faces  that 
we  have  left  behind  ns;  while  the  morning  press,  that  miracle  of 
modern  enterprise  and  invention — seems  to  so  closely  connect  us, 
that  we  realize  that  Ave  are  indeed  a  component  part  of  the  great 
world  of  human  life,  and  we  feel  every  pulsation  of  its  great 
heart.  But  upon  the  little  island  of  New  Providence — a  rock 
fast  anchored  in  the  great  ocean — communication  with  the  out- 
side world  is  so  infrequent  and  contingent,  that  we  seem  when 
anxiously  waiting,  watching,  and  vainly  longing  for  the  arrival 
f  r(5m  Jacksonville  of  the  only  steamer  that  connects  these  islands 
with  the  mainland,  like  a  little  colony  of  Eobinson  Crusoes. 

On  stejiping  from  the  deck  of  a  steamer,  upon  one  of  the 
docks  at  Nassau,  we  have  a  consciousness  that  we  are  mere  waifs 
on  the  ocean  of  life,  dissevered  and  far  away  drifted  from  every- 
thing that  makes  a  residence  upon  tlie  sun's  little  satelite  desir- 
able. 

The  tired  worker,  needing  absolute  quiet  and  rest,  can  find  it 
there.  But  he  must  make  up  his  mind  not  to  be  anxious  or 
fussy  about  friends  and  business  in  his  distant  home.     If,  day 


ISLAND   SOLITUDES,       SEA-BATHIXG    IN   WINTER.  207 

after  day,  the  expected  steamer  fails  to  arrive,  and  he  looks  a 
hundred  times  in  vain  for  the  signal  of  her  approach  upon  the 
flag-staff  at  Fort  Fincastle,  he  must  not  allow  himself  to  think 
even  of  the  possibility  that  she  has  foundered  at  sea,  or  has  been 
wrecked  on  some  of  the  dangerous  rocks  or  reefs  or  shores  that 
have  made  the  Bahamas  so  noted  in  the  past.  He  must  not  in- 
dulge in  speculations  upon  the  probable  results  of  such  a  misfor- 
tune, nor  strive  to  find  out  how  long  it  will  be  before  the  outside 
world  will  hear  of  the  disaster  and  make  provision  for  his  return 
to  the  living  busy  world  from  which  he  is  separated.  If  he  has 
a  sick  relative  in  charge,  he  must  not  undertake  to  solve  the  con- 
undrum what  he  ought  to  do  in  case  the  sickness  assumes  a  very 
dangerous  form,  and  how  he  will  manage  in  case  of  death.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  by  all  means  let  him  feast  and  fill  his  soul 
with  the  sensuous,  ambrosial  delights  that  surround  him,  thank 
God  for  the  clear,  blue  skies,  the  mild  uniform  temperature, 
the  soft  and  balmy  airs,  the  tranquil  and  beautiful  seas,  the 
strange,  wonderful  fauna  of  the  emerald  water,  the  picturesque 
islets  and  keys,  and  the  new  and  most  charming  vegetable  world 
that  is  ever  spread  out  in  unfading  boauty  before  him;  let  him 
enjoy  the  present,  trust  in  the  future,  and  in  a  Divine  Providence 
that  wisely  directs,  rules  and  overrules  witli  unerring  wisdom 
and  unflagging  benevolence,  and  leave  to  fools  and  madmen  the 
bad  business  of  distilling,  like  wasps  and  hornets  in  flower  gar- 
dens, poisons  from  present  joys. 

While  considering  Xassau's  advantages  as  a  health  resort  in 
winter,  we  ought  not  to  omit  to  mention  the  facilities  which  it 
offers  for  sea  bathing.  In  this  particular  nature  has  done  for  it 
all  that  could  be  reasonably  asked  or  desired.  She  has  furnished 
both  air  and  water  of  a  most  agreeable  temperature  at  all  seasons 
of  the  year,  aiid  during  all  the  hours  of  both  day  and  night. 
No  cold  currents  of  either  air  or  water  are  encountered.     The 


SOS  tSLES   OF  SOrMEll. 

islands  are  situated  within  the  limits  of  the  isothermal  belt,  that 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  equator,  nearly  encircles,  with  a  warm 
watery  girdle,  the  earth.  The  Gulf  Stream  protects  it  upon  the 
west  and  north,  while  the  strong  winds,  that  sometimes  prevail, 
seem  unable  to  bring  to  the  surface  the  colder  water  that  fills 
the  bed  of  the  vast  oceanic  basins.  Besides  private  bath  houses 
along  the  city's  harbor  front,  bathing  facilities  are  furnished  near 
Fort  Montague.  Crossing  the  harbor  in  a  row-boat,  the  north 
shore  of  Hog  Island  is  soon  reached,  where  the  surf  rolls  in  from 
the  ocean,  and  bathing  of  a  lively  and  exciting  description  can  be 
enjoyed  by  those  who  experience  an  exhilarating  pleasure  in 
breasting  the  strong  and  foaming  billows.  Some  gentlemen  who 
occasionally  tried  surf  bathing  there  before  breakfast,  spoke  very 
highly  in  its  praise,  but  regretted  that  no  one  had  life,  energy 
and  enterprise  enough  to  smooth  the  surface  of  the  rocks — a  work 
requiring  but  a  few  hours  of  labor  with  a  hammer. 

Some  indulged  every  morning  in  a  sea-water  sponge  bath  in 
their  rooms. 


CHAPTEPi  XII. 

ComU  and  Coral  Reefs.  The  Marvelom  Beauty  »f  the  ' '  Marine  Garden. " 
Its  Corals,  CoraUnes,  Gargonias,  Algm,  Sponges,  and  Wonderfully  Colored 
Fishes.  Water  Glasses.  Natural  Aquariums.  Coral  Bowers  and  Grottoes. 
Sea  Urchins.     The  Colored  Divers.     Life  in  the  Rock. 

"There  with  a  light  and  easy  motion 
The  fan-coral  sweeps  througli  the  clear  deep  sea, 
And  life,  in  rare  and  beautiful  forms, 
Is  sporling  amid  the  bowers  of  stone. 
While  the  waters  murmur  tranquilly 
Through  the  bending  twigs  of  the  coral  groves." — Peeoival. 

While  at  Nassau  it  was  our  happy  destiny  to  make  the  partial 
acquaintance  of  some  of  the  members  of  a  family  of  the  most 
ceaseless,  and  indefatigable  builders  that  have  ever  existed  since 
the  world  first  commenced  to  keep  step  to  the  "music  of  the 
spheres,"  and  sweep  in  grand  cycles  around  the  sun.  Called  into 
existence  by  tlie  fiat  of  Jehovah,  in  that  vague  and  mysterious 
"beginning"  when  "the  earth  was  without  form,"  and  "dark- 
ness was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep,"  the  little  corals,  with  the 
first  peep  of  creation's  early  dawn,  commenced,  in  the  warm  clear 
waters  of  the  great  primeval  sea,  their  silent,  unobtrusive  and 
apparently  insignificant  work — evidences  of  wliich,  clear  and  in- 
disputable, the  researches  of  modern  scientists  have  discovered 
far  inland,  hundreds  and  thousands  of  miles  from  where  the 
Western  Atlantic  billows  "beat  the  sounding  shore."  In  an 
unbroken  line  of  descent,  from  tlic  depths  of  a  past  so  vast  and 

209 


profound  that  the  minds  of  the  wisest  men  reel,  totter  and 
give  way  when  they  attempt  to  grasp  and  follow  it,  the  little, 
tireless,  plodding,  stone-secreting  corals  of  our  own  times  have 
descended.  The  monuments  of  their  Past  are  the  islands  and 
continents,  whose  foundations  they  laid,  that  have  arisen  out  of 
the  sea — while  the  Future  patiently,  in  solemn  majesty,  awaits 
the  completion,  in  tropical  and  semi-tropical  latitudes,  of  those 
new  foundations,  now  being  so  quietly  and  noiselessly  laid  by 
these  diligent  builders,  upon  which  the  "  new  earth  "  of  prophecy 
is  to  rest. 

Looking  at  them  in  the  perfectly  clear  waters  of  the  Bahamas, 
how  insignificant  they  appear!  Studying  them  more  carefully 
in  the  light  of  the  vast  results  which  they  have  already  accom- 
plished, they  seem  foremost  among  the  great  builders,  made  and 
set  apart  by  God  for  the  erection  of  homes,  in  a  vast  and  wild 
waste  of  waters,  for  all  the  varied  forms  of  vegetable  and  animal 
life.  Individually  they  are  seemingly  as  insignificant  as  the  motes 
in  a  sun-beam.  Collectively,  as  seen  through  the  dim  mists 
which  shroud  in  gloom  the  vast  unknown  periods  lying  back  of 
the  small  cycles  of  recorded  time,  they  glow  and  are  hallowed 
with  a  radiance  reflected  from  a  divinity  whose  decrees  they  ex- 
ecute. "  The  mill  of  the  gods  grinds  slow;"  to  Him  who  had  no 
beginning  and  is  ever  existing,  ''a  thousand  years  are  as  one 
day," — and  as  we,  from  time  to  time,  gazed  at  and  reflected  upon 
these  little  but  most  important  creatures  in  their  ocean  homes, 
they  revealed  to  us  more  of  the  divine  than  did  ever  the  lofty 
cloud-capped  mountain  in  its  sublimity,  or  the  vast  ocean  when 
vexed  and  tossed  by  the  wildest  and  most  angry  storms.  Upon 
our  arrival  in  Nassau  they  were  the  first  to  attract  our  attention, 
and,  before  leaving,  they  were  among  the  last  to  engage  our 
thoughts  and  employ  our  pen.  "When  we  would  propose  the  task 
of  attempting  some  description  of  them,  we  felt  an  indescribable 


l*eluctance  to  commence,  and  were  awed  into  silence,  knowing 
that  we  could  make  but  a  faint  picture  of  the  corals  as  they 
appear  to  the  eye,  or  give  satisfactory  expression  to  the  moody 
speculations  which  they  naturally  suggest  to  an  inquiring  mind. 

The  coral  was  formerly  believed  to  belor»g  to  the  vegetable 
kingdom,  but  naturalists  have  for  some  time  agreed  that  it  is  one 
of  the  lowest  forms  of  animal  life.  To  those  whom  "  proud  science 
never  taught  to  stray,"  it  appears,  upon  casual  inspection,  to  be 
in  some  of  its  forms  nothing  ])ut  a  curious  and  beautiful  kind  of 
limestone,  and  in  others  a  marine  vegetable  having  such  a  stony 
habit  of  growth  as  closely  to  ally  it  to  the  inanimate  rock  upon 
which  it  builds,  and  to  which  it  is  securely  attached  and  appar- 
ently rooted.  It  belongs  to  the  large  family  of  coralligeroKS 
zoophytes,  and  is  found  not  only  in  tiie  Bahama  waters,  but  off 
the  coast  of  Florida,  around  the  Bermuda  and  West  India  islands, 
Madagascar  and  Mauritius,  off  the  coast  of  Zanzibar,  in  the  Per- 
sian Gulf,  in  the  Red  and  the  Mediterranean  Seas,  and  in  the 
Indian  and  Pacific  oceans;  but,  as  it  canuot  live  and  work  except 
in  Avater  of  the  temperature  of  not  less  than  G8°  of  Fahrenheit,  it 
is  only  found  within  a  belt  of  ocean  thirty-six  hundred  miles 
wide,  through  wliich  the  line  of  the  equator  runs.  In  colder 
latitudes,  and  off  the  western  coast  of  South  America  and  Africa, 
it  is  not  found.  Some  of  its  reefs  are  over  a  tliousand  miles 
long. 

The  most  important  of  the  coral-making  animals  are  the  Polyps, 
which  in  external  form  and  delicacy  of  coloring  Prof.  Dana  com- 
pares to  the  garden  aster.  Both  have  a  central  disc,  fringed 
with  petal-like  organs  called  tenacles.  Below  the  disk  the  coral 
polyp  has  a  stout  cylindrical  pedicel  or  body  which  contains  the 
stomach  and  internal  cavity  of  the  polyp.  The  mouth  is  in  the 
center  of  the  disk.  The  coral  animal  is  very  domestic,  from  ne- 
cessity, being  as  it  were,  **  tied  to  its  own  door-post. "    Like  a  tree 


^i^  ISLEfS   Of  RUMMEK. 

or  slinib,  through  its  little  round  of  life  it  remains  fastened  to 
the  same  spot,  and  the  process  of  increasing  and  multiplying 
never  stops.  Closely  compacted  in  compound  groups,  a  single 
zoophyte  is  formed  by  a  budding  process  differing  little  from  the 
budding  process  in  vegetable  growth.  The  coral  animals  while 
thus  closely  associated,  living  together  and  constantly  multiply- 
ing, secrete  the  beautiful  corallum  or  coral  of  commerce  and  cab- 
inets, which  is  merely  the  skeleton  on  which  the  soft  and  perishable 
portion  of  the  animal  rests,  and  to  which  it  adheres.  Coral  reefs 
are,  in  their  outer  surfaces,  mainly  composed  of  great  communi- 
ties of  these  flowering  zoophytes,  below  which  the  dead  skeletons 
are  compacted  and  solidified. 

The  coral  reefs  were  divided  by  Charles  Darwin  in  his  Voyage 
of  a  Naturalist,  published  many  years  ago,  into  three  classes. 
The  first,  which  are  found  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the 
land,  in  shallow  water,  he  called  fringing  reef  corals;  and  the 
second,  barrier  reef  corals.  These  two  surround  islands  or  skirt 
continents,  but  they  are  separated  from  the  neighboring  shores 
by  navigable  channels,  while  their  outer  margins  often  border 
ocean  depths  as  vast  as  those  seen  from  lofty  mountain  tops.  A 
barrier  coral  reef  is  formed  off  the  coast  of  Australia,  of  sufficient 
length  to  more  than  reach  from  Nassau  to  New  York.  It  is  from 
twenty  to  thirty  miles  from  the  shore,  and  is  a  breakwater  to  a 
great  natural  highway,  having  a  depth  of  water  of  from  sixty  to 
six  hundred  feet.  The  remaining  class  of  coral  reefs  are  circular 
in  form  and  are  called  atolls.  They  encircle  great  lagoons,  or 
large  areas  of  ocean  water,  to  which  access  is  generally  obtained 
through  breaches  or  openings  uj^on  their  leeward  sides — where 
Ave  would  naturally  anticipate  the  little  corals  would  be  most  ac- 
tively at  work,  as  they  would  be  there  less  exposed  to  the  force 
and  fury  of  the  ocean  when  its  billows  are  storm-tossed.  But 
Creative  Wisdom  has  secured  their  services  for  the  windward  side 


THE   COKALS   AS   BUILDERS.  213 

by  making  it  a  law  of  their  existence  not  merely  that  they  shall 
be  constantly  under  water  which  is  clear  and  of  a  temperature  of 
not  less  than  68°  Fahr.,  but  that  the  water  shall  be  aerated;  the 
ceaseless  dashing  of  the  waves  against  the  rocks  and  reefs  on  the 
windward  side  saturates  tlieni  with  air,  as  the  foaming  breakers 
and  sparkling  spray  clearly  indicate;  and  hence  it  is  that  here, 
in  the  ever  seething,  boiling,  foaming  waters,  these  silent,  unob- 
trusive and  seemingly  unimportant  creatures,  with  a  lineage 
reaching  back  to  "  chaos  and  old  night,"  are  found  in  the  great- 
est numbers,  reach  their  highest  development,  and  accomplish 
the  best  results  Thus  do  the  ocean  depths  below  us,  where  by 
an  alchemy  far  surpassing  the  skill  and  genius  of  man,  the  little 
corals  secrete  from  the  ocean  waves  the  limestone  foundations  for 
islands  and  continents  that  are  yet  to  be,  equally  with  the  depths 
above  where  suns  and  systems  of  worlds  revolve,  forever  reveal 
to  the  observing  eye  and  inquiring  mind  the  perfect  and  profound 
wisdom  of  their  common  Creator. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  corals  as  builders,  and  in  practical  re- 
sults, such  they  pre-eminently  are,  but,  as  Prof.  Dana  has  shown, 
they  do  not  labor  like  the  bird  in  constructing  its  nest  or  the 
beaver  in  making  its  dam,  but,  by  a  law  of  their  nature,  they  se- 
crete the  corallum  or  coral  as  man  makes  his  own  bones  or  the 
oyster  its  shell,  and  the  vast  coral  formations  found  upon  the 
land  and  in  the  ocean  are  composed  of  the  skeletons  which  they 
have  left  behind  them. 

No  costly  sarcophagus  of  deceased  royalty — no  mausoleum 
which  human  skill  and  ingenuity  has  ever  erected — no  Egyptian 
pyramid  rising  grandly  out  of  tiie  shadows  of  four  thousand  de- 
parted years,  can  even  in  a  remote  degree  rival  in  beauty  and 
sublimity  the  vast  and  varied  tumuli  of  these  little  dwellers  in 
tropical  and  semi-tropical  seas. 

The  corals  and  corallum  in  extensive  beds  abound  in  the  Ba- 


214  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

hama  waters,  and  afford  one  of  the  principal  attractions  for 
those  who  visit  this  part  of  Queen  Victoria's  possessions.  "We 
have  seen  and  studied  them  at  various  times  and  under  different 
circumstances,  and  yet  we  feel,  not  only  that  our  knowledge  of 
them  is  imperfect  and  superficial,  but  that  we  can  convey  to 
others  only  a  crude  and  unsatisfactory  reflection  of  the  impres- 
sion they  made  upon  our  own  mind.  The  effect  is  heightened 
by  all  the  surrounding  circumstances.  There  is  nothing  to  an- 
noy or  produce  any  but  pleasurable  sensations,  New  but  con- 
genial friends  meet  together  by  a  subtle  law  of  attraction,  recline 
on  the  cushions,  occupy  the  comfortable  chairs,  or  sit  on  the  cir- 
cular seats  of  the  ''Trident,"  the  ''Gazelle"  or  the  "Frolic." 
It  is,  to  be  sure,  mid-winter,  but  no  northern  summer  air  ever 
seemed  half  so  soft,  soothing  and  voluptuous.  We  have  not  known 
each  other  long,  and  yet  there  is  such  an  absence  of  reserve,  such 
an  interchange  of  thought,  such  an  expression  of  pleasurable 
emotions,  and  such  a  telling  of  rich  and  racy  anecdotes,  that  a 
looker-on  would  have  supposed  we  were  life-long  acquaintances 
and  friends.  Feasting  and  surfeiting  upon  types  and  forms  of 
beauty  never  seen  or  even  imagined  in  our  colder  climes,  it  was 
a  relief  to  be  aided  in  the  audible  expression  of  delightful  emo- 
tions by  the  combined  vocabularies  of  our  little  group  of  ex- 
plorers. 

Visits  to  the  coral  beds  and  reefs  are  made  exceedingly  attrac- 
tive by  reason  of  the  peculiar  clearness  and  beauty  of  the  water 
over  which  we  sail  to  reach  them  and  in  which  they  are  found. 
No  snow  fed  mountain  torrent  was  ever  more  clear  and  trans- 
parent, and,  as  the  water-bed  is  white  limestone,  objects  at  the 
bottom  can  be  seen  with  great  distinctness.  On  one  occasion  of 
relatively  smooth  water,  a  mile  or  so  outside  of  the  bar  of  Nassau 
harbor,  we  clearly  saw  the  bottom  at  a  depth  of  about  seventy 
feet.     The  sounding  line  showed  seventy-six  feet,  but  some  dis- 


BEAUTIFUL  SEA   "WATER.  215 

count  must  be  made,  because,  as  our  yaclit  was  in  motion,  the 
line  could  not  have  been  perpendicular. 

The  water  of  the  harbor  is  most  exquisitely  colored.  It  is  a 
soft,  delicate,  brilliant  green,  wholly  unlike  any  of  the  countless 
shades  of  green  seen  in  tue  vegetable  world.  "When  the  waves 
are  gently  rolling  in  a  brilliant  sunlight,  they  gleam  and  sparkle 
in  a  manner  but  faintly  represented  by  the  most  beautifully  tinted 
silks  when  their  graceful  folds  are  in  motion  under  a  strong  light. 
It  cannot  be  properly  described  upon  paper,  and  if  faithfully  imi- 
tated upon  canvass  by  the  most  gifted  artist  he  would  be  charged 
by  art  critics  and  connoisseurs  with  painting  the  ideal,  and  Avith 
being  color  mad.  One  never  tires  of  looking  at  it,  but  soon  gets 
out  of  descriptive  and  eulogistic  adjectives,  and  rests  with  a  final 
declaration  that  it  is  a  brilliant,  moving,  liquid,  sparkling,  lovely 
torquoise.  At  times,  Avhen  the  winds  and  sunlight  are  particu- 
larly favorable,  such  color  effects  are  produced  that  practical, 
prosaic  men  seem  to  vie  with  the  more  susceptible  and  apj)recia- 
tive  ladies  in  their  exclamations  of  astonishment  and  pleasure. 
A  lady  in  our  party  on  one  occasion  when  we  visited  the  corals, 
exclaimed  while  gazing,  feasting  and  almost  getting  intoxicated 
upon  this  wonderful  exhibition  of  color,  "  What  would  oiir 
friends  at  home  say  if  they  could  only  see  this!  They  think  that 
they  know  water,  but  they  don't." 

Occasional  rifts  in  the  limestone  bed  of  the  harbor  vary  the 
prevailing  color  with  ribbons  of  the  deepest  and  darkest  blue, 
while  the  ocean  outside  is  seen  to  darkly  mirror  the  softer  blue 
of  the  sky.  Often  also  there  is  at  midday  a  warm  glow  above 
the  horizon  like  that  which  heralds  the  ushering  in  of  a  new  day. 

As  we  near  the  homes  of  the  corals  the  foamino:  and  dashins: 
of  the  breakers  over  coral  reefs  and  submerged  rocks  reminds  one 
of  our  party  of  the  icy  spray  of  an  Alpine  avalanche,  and  adds  a 
new  and  pleasing  variety  to  the  view,  while  the  neighboring 


216  ISLES   OF   SUMMEK. 

islands  with  honeycombed  shores,  and  short  patches  of  white 
sandy  beaches,  also  contribute  other  elements  of  beauty.  The 
purple  haze  resting  upon  the  island  of  New  Providence  also  re- 
calls the  aerial  investiture  of  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 

We  are  soothed  and  lulled  by  a  soft  silvery  melody,  the  water 
rising  and  singing  sweetly  to  us  as  we  glide  along  ;  the  music 
perfectly  harmonizes  with  the  calm  and  voluptuous  beauty  which 
nature  has  lavishly  bestowed  upon  this  favored  locality. 

Snatches  of  poetry  long  concealed  in  some  of  the  nooks  and 
corners  of  the  mind,  and  forgotten — the  gathered  gems  of  earlier 
years — emerge  from  their  hiding  places  amid  scenes  and  sur- 
roundings so  congenial,  (just  as  the  beautiful  and  perfumed  blos- 
soms of  the  arbutus  awaken  from  their  winter's  sleep  in  the  warm 
breath  of  the  opening  spring,)  and  Ave  again  exclaim  with  Fay  : 

"Blow  scented  gale,  the  snowy  canvass  swell, 
And  flow,  thou  gleaming  eddying  current,  on ; 
Grieve  me  to  bid  each  lovely  point  farewell. 
That,  ere  its  graces  half  are  seen,  is  gone. 

"Nor  clouds  in  heaven,  nor  billows  on  the  deep, 
More  graceful  shapes  did  ever  have  or  roll. 
Nor  came  such  pictures  to  a  poet's  sleep, 
Nor  beamed  such  visions  on  a  poet's  soul." 

The  "Marine  Garden,"  through  which  the  reader  may  remem- 
ber we  passed  when  returning  from  our  yachting  excursion  to 
test  the  capabilities  of  Sampson's  Triton  in  a  strong  wind  outside 
the  bar,  is  nearer  to  Nassau  and  more  accessible  than  any  of  the 
other  localities  Avhcre  the  corals  aljound  in  this  vicinity.  Hence 
it  is  the  most  visited  and  the  best  known.  Situated  between 
two  islands,  it  is  more  sheltered  from  the  wind,  and  the  conse- 
quent comparative  smoothness  of  the  water  enables  the  visitors 
at  all  times  to  examine  it.     Beino-  a  flower  garden  under  water. 


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CORALS 


WHITE  STONY  CORALS. 

1.  Agaricia  agaricites.  A  piece  from  the  edge  of  a  large  mass.  Natural 
size.  In  life  each  hole  was  occupied  by  an  animal  with  separate  mouth  and 
tentacles,  but  connected  at  the  base  with  all  the  others  around  it. 

2.  Porites  clavaria.     End  of  a  branch.     Natural  size. 

3.  Eu»milia  fastigiata.  "Rose  Coral."  A  branch.  Natural  size. 
Formed  of  four  distinct  animals,  two  of  which  are  nearly  divided  across  the 
middle. 

4.  Millepora  alcicornis.  "Sea  Ginger."  When  fresh  it  has  a  biting  taste. 
A  branch  from  a  large  piece.  Natural  size.  This  belongs  to  the  Hydroids, 
a  diflerent  class  from  most  corals.  In  life  the  soft  parts  of  the  animals  are 
extended  through  minute  holes  on  the  surface,  marked  by  dark  spots  in  the 
figure. 

5.  Madrepora  prolifera.  "Finger  Coral."  Branch  from  a  large  piece. 
Natural  size.  Each  animal  forms  a  cup-shaped  projection.  The  terminal 
one,  from  which  those  below  have  branched,  is  larger  than  the  others. 

6.  Manicina  areolata.  A  young  specimen.  Natural  size.  Attached  to 
the  rock.     From  Agassiz's  Report  on  Florida  Reefs. 


FLEXIBLE  CORALS  (GORGONIAS.) 

Corals  with  a  hard,  flexible  core,  covered  with  a  softer  outer  layer,  which 
is  usually  brightly  colored. 

1.  Mxmcea  muricfita.  A  branch.  Natural  size.  Light  orange-color  in 
life. 

2.  Oorgonia  flabelluifL.  "Fan  Coral."  Light  purple  or  bright  yellow  in 
color.  A  small  specimen.  Natural  size.  The  black  spots  along  the  edges 
of  some  of  the  branches  mark  the  holes  from  which  the  mouths  and  tentacles 
extended  when  the  coral  was  alive. 

3.  Oorgonia  setosa.  "Sea  Feather."  One-fourth  natural  size.  Color, 
light  pink  or  purple. 


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Pundorson&Ci  :3and  NervHaven  Ot 


CORALS 


THE    MARINE    GAEDES".  217 

the  eye  cannot  explore  it  when  the  surface  is  rough.  Each  boat 
IS  therefore  provided  with  "  water  glasses,"  wooden  boxes  about 
eight  or  ten  inches  square,  open  at  the  top,  with  window 
glass  bottoms  ;  to  the  boxes  are  attached  wooden  handles  from 
eighteen  inches  to  three  feet  long.  Holding  this  little  instru- 
ment over  the  side  of  a  boat  at  anchor,  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  glass  bottom  is  immersed,  the  observer  who  looks  through 
the  open  end  of  the  water  glass  can  see  all  the  "  wonders  of  the 
deep  "  in  the  line  of  his  vision  as  plainly  as  he  could  if  no  water 
intervened. 

This  marine  garden  is  made  up  of  the  most  exquisite  submerged 
coral  bowers  and  grottoes,  which  rival  the  choicest  productions 
of  the  floral  world  in  form  and  color.  We  can  hardly  believe 
our  eyes  when  such  charming  and  unexpected  beauties  are  first 
revealed  by  the  water  glass.  The  madrepora  or  branching  coral 
is  very  abundant,  and  is  here  and  there  seen  of  a  large  size.  The 
astrsea  or  brain  coral  also  abounds,  and  masses  of  it  are  seen  many 
feet  in  diameter.  Alcyonoid  polyps,  (delicate  coral  shrubs,)  vie 
with  the  gay,  varied  and  luxuriant  algae  in  decorating  the  garden 
with  their  curious  growths.  They  are  peculiarly  delicate  in  form, 
graceful  in  motion,  and  attractive  in  color.  The  gorgonias  or 
sea-fans,  also  diversified  in  size  and  color,  unite  with  the  largo 
clusters  of  tall,  purple  sea-feathers  in  challenging  the  admiration 
of  all  beholders,  as  they  gracefully  wave  in  the  clear  water  like 
tall  flowering  shrubs  in  the  wind. 

Sponges  are  here  also  seen,  clustered  and  combined  in  their 
little  miniature  cities,  and  immovably  fastened  to  the  rocky  shelf 
upon  which  the  warm,  clear,  beautiful  waters  rest.  JS'ew  and 
exquisite  forms  of  coral  beauty  startle  and  charm  us  as  our  yacht 
slowly  circles  round  her  anchor  in  different  portions  of  this  curi- 
ous nautical  exhibition.  Into  deep  alcoves  and  recesses,  and  far 
under  shelving  masses  of  corals,  we  inquiringly  gaze,  but  an  im- 

18 


218  ISLES   OF   SUMMEE. 

penetrable  mystery  hides  in  the  shadows  where  no  sunlight  enters, 
and,  by  a  most  striking  contrast,  hel^os  to  glorify  and  adorn  the 
beautiful  and  unique  forms  that  the  light  reveals. 

New  and  wonderful  combinations  of  these  (to  us)  strange  forms 
of  marine  animal  and  vegetable  life,  when  first  observed  and 
closely  studied,  is  the  occasion  of  new  expressions  of  delight.  If 
sea-nymphs  and  ocean  fairies  exist  anywhere  in  the  world  of 
waters,  their  chosen  home  should  surely  be  in  these  coral  bowers 
and  grottoes;  and  if  they  are  ever  embodied,  their  outward  adorn- 
ments cannot  in  color  surpass  that  of  the  fish  we  saw  sporting  in 
the  sunlight,  and  darting  into  the  dark  recesses  of  this  beautiful 
submerged  coral  world.  Exquisite  in  form,  the  perfection  of 
gracefulness  in  motion,  the  peers  of  birds  of  gayest  plumage  in 
color,  they  seemed  specially  adapted  to  harmonize  with,  and  grace 
and  adorn  this  lovely  spot.  As  with  water,  so  ''our  friends  at 
home  think  they  know  fish — but  they  don't."  Some  are  brilliant 
yellow,  others  a  rich  scarlet,  and  others  a  glossy  indigo  blue. 
Here  are  seen  fish  in  suits  of  emerald  green,  and  others  in  clerical 
black.  Costumes  of  satin  and  silver  may  also  be  observed.  Be- 
sides all  these  there  is  in  the  piscatory  dwellers  among  the  corals 
a  most  gorgeous  color  display,  resulting  from  the  ringing  and 
striping  and  fringing  and  tipping  and  spotting  of  the  fish.  In- 
deed, it  seems  as  if  all  the  tints  of  the  floral  world  and  of  the 
rainbow  had  been  used  in  the  most  perfect  and  lavish  manner 
to  beautify  and  adorn  these  small  specimens  of  the  native  dwellers 
of  the  ocean  world.  One  of  these,  most  gorgeously  colored,  was 
brought  to  us  in  a  pail  of  sea  water  at  our  hotel,  and  we  had  an 
opportunity  to  more  critically  examine  it.  It  was  six  inches  long. 
Capt.  Sampson  called  it  the  humming  bird  fish.  We  bottled  it 
in  alcohol,  but  its  beautiful  colors  soon  faded  away.  A  descrip- 
tion of  some  of  these  remarkable  fauna  of  the  sea  the  reader  will 
find  in  tlie  next  chajiter  of  this  book.  The  real  in  the  coral 
bowers  is  more  g-oro-coiis  than  the  ideal. 


THE   AQUARIUMS.  219 

Besides  the  coral  beds  there  are  two  *' aquariums,"  as  they  are 
very  appropriately  termed,  in  the  harbor  of  Nassau,  easily  acces- 
sible, Avhich  few,  if  any,  of  Nassau's  visitors  fail  to  see.  One 
consists  of  the  keel  and  small  portions  of  the  attached  ribs  of  a 
wrecked  vessel  lying  upon  the  bottom  of  the  harbor.  The  other 
IS  what  is  left  of  another  vessel  wrecked  not  far  from  the  first, 
with  its  load  of  lime  in  barrels;  tbcse  barrels  are  distinctly  seen 
in  the  clear  water.  Great  quantities  of  fish  like  those  we  have 
partially  described,  are  at  all  times  to  be  seen  swimming  in  and 
around  tliesc  old  wrecks;  as  the  coral  bowers  are  so  much  more 
beautiful,  we  conclude  they  are  here  not  from  choice  but  from 
compulsion,  and  that  they  have  been  driven  out  of  the  Marine 
Gardens  of  Eden  to  these  forbidding-looking  places  on  account 
of  their  piscatory  ''indiscretions."  Possibly  they  colonized  for 
want  of  sufficient  room.  Perhaps,  like  ourselves,  they  are  "on 
an  excursion."  It  may  be  that  they  have  some  religious  system 
and  are  here  doing  penance  for  real  or  imagined  sins,  or  hope  to 
secure  divine  favor  by  thus  renouncing  the  gay  world  in  which 
the  voluptuous  marine  Epicureans  are  indulging.  For  surely  no 
one  can  doubt  that  living,  as  such  fish  for  the  most  part  do,  in  a 
little  world  of  more  than  oriental  magnificence  of  fact  and  fable, 
they  have  a  delicate  and  refined  taste  and  an  esthetic  nature 
which  peculiarly  fits  them  for  the  enjoyment  of  nature's  most 
lavish  gifts  to  them  of  the  beautiful  in  form  and  color. 

Another  marine  garden  very  much  visited  is  called  "the  coral 
reef."  Being  much  farther  off,  and  lying  to  the  windward,  in 
a  position  more  exposed  to  the  ocean,  it  is  only  occasionally  that 
there  is  such  a  combination  of  force  and  direction  of  wind  as  to 
favor  a  visit  to  the  reef.  It  must  be  sufficiently  fair  to  enable 
the  yacht  to  go  and  return  in  a  certain  limited  time,  and  not  so 
strong  as  to  make  rough  sea.  The  water  at  this  reef  being  more 
terated,  the  corals  thrive  better,  and  their  works  are  on  a  more 


230  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

extensive  scale.  Here  the  branching  coral  of  a  large  size  is  very 
abundant — a  variety  familiar  to  all  our  readers.  When  taken 
from  the  water,  it  is  of  a  light  drab  or  yellow  color,  and  for 
a  while  has  a  disagreeable  odor,  both  of  which  it  loses  when  ex- 
posed for  a  time  to  the  air  and  the  sunlight.  We  took  the  lib- 
erty to  give  this  "reef  a  better  descriptive  name,  and,  with  the 
l^ermission  of  Her  Majesty  Queen  Victoria,  and  of  her  official 
representatives  in  the  Bahamas,  to  call  it,  '^  Coral  Boioers  and 
Grottoes  " — for  such  it  literally  is.  It  is  the  "  Marine  Garden  " 
enlarged  and  magnified.  It  abounded  with  "wood  paths  wild," 
in  miniature  forests  of  coral, — dark  recesses  in  groves  that 
gleamed  in  brightness  and  beauty — alcoves  carved  in  forms  gro- 
tesque but  beautiful,  and  profusely  ornamented — vaulted  isles 
of  an  architectural  design  and  finish  that  dwarfed  and  belittled 
the  products  of  human  skill  and  genius — cave  openings,  elabo- 
rately wrought  and  strangely  configured  and  adorned,  yawning 
beneath  coral  banks  and  bowers  wild  and  endlessly  varied — all 
constituting  a  vast  natural  aquarium,  the  home  of  large  numbers 
of  fish  like  those  seen  in  the  Marine  Garden,  brilliantly  and  most 
gorgeously  colored,  which  bore  the  same  relation  to  the  little 
aquariums  that  man  makes  that  the  vast  and  magnificent  tropi- 
cal forests,  clothed  in  perennial  green,  adorned  with  graceful 
vines,  teeming  with  flowers  of  every  hue,  and  vocal  with  count- 
less birds  of  the  most  varied  and  of  the  richest  plumage,  bear  to 
a  lady's  little  but  luxurious  boudoir,  with  its  evergreen  branches, 
climbing  vines  and  captive  birds  in  their  small  but  gilded  cages. 
Turning  our  eyes  upward,  surfeited  as  they  were  with  the  truly 
wonderful  display  below  the  surface  of  the  Avater,  it  was  restful 
to  look  again  at  the  soft  but  resplendent  beauty  of  the  blue  heav- 
ens, here  and  there  draped  w^th  light  curtains  of  satin  and  silver, 
and  at  the  gem-like  setting  in  the  green  and  blue  waters  of  the 
islands^  keys  and  rocks,  with  their  varied  outlines  and  colors 


^nt   CORAL    BEDS.  ^21 

risible  m  every  direction,  while  we  inhaled,  meanwhile  an  at- 
mosphere delightfully  cooled  and  medicated  by  the  ocean,  and 
yet  sufficiently  warm  to  saturate  us  with  an  indolence  we  could 
not  shako  off,  and  with  a  feeling  of  languid  and  voluptuous  ease, 
satisfaction  and  content.  "We  seemed  tenants  of  a  new  world 
where  ambition  is  unknown  and  the  passions  are  either  dead  or 
lost  in  a  sleep  profound  and  dreamless.  Let  not  the  reader  for 
a  moment  indulge  in  any  suspicions  that  this  picture  is  over- 
drawn, for  it  is  not  within  the  power  of  any  man  to  so  color  his 
descriptions  of  the  coral  bowers  as  to  convey  any  j)roper  idea  of 
their  marvelous  beauty,  or  to  do  justice  to  the  original.  The 
most  gifted  pen  can  only  caricature  nature's  perfect  works.  Ho 
who  is  not  greatly  exhilarated,  excited  and  charmed  while  view- 
ing the  coral  beds  of  the  Bahamas,  under  the  favoring  circum- 
stances which  we  have  attempted  to  describe,  is  certainly  color 
blind,  and,  as  H.  W.  Beecher  would  say,  "dead  in  the  eye."  In 
the  language  of  Shakespeare,  when  speaking  of  music,  ''let  no 
such  man  be  trusted." 

On  a  charming  forenoon  in  March,  1879,  when  sailing  in  the 
"  Gazelle  "  in  a  very  light  wind,  we  were  for  the  first  time  be- 
calmed just  as  we  came  to  anchor  over  a  large  bed  of  coral  to 
which  we  were  piloted  by  Capt.  Johnson,  of  the  existence  of 
which  we  were  until  then  ignorant.  For  half  an  hour  tlie  wind 
faibd  to  make  itself  felt,  and  the  water  was  perfectly  smootli 
and  glassy.  To  our  great  joy  we  found  that  we  could  stand  up- 
on the  deck  of  our  yacht  and  see,  without  water  glasses  or  any 
artificial  aid,  an  extensive  tract  of  corals  with  their  swarms  of 
beautiful  fish,  and  even  the  shadows  of  some  of  them  on  the 
white  bottom  of  the  harbor,  at  a  distance,  we  judged,  of  about 
twenty-five  feet  from  the  surface.  Among  the  corals  we  observed 
here,  as  elsewhere,  many  algae,  gorgonias  and  sponges  growing 
upon   the  limestone  floor  to  which  they  were  attached.     One 


223  iSLES  OF  SrMMfiS. 

siDonge  was  of  the  size  and  shape  of  a  half  bushel  basket.  It  waS 
secured  for  us,  but  proved  to  be  old  and  rotten. 

Here  also,  as  in  the  "Marine  Garden,"  and  in  the  ''coral 
bowers  and  grottoes,"  way  down  in  the  edges  of  the  lowest  and 
darkest  shadows,  we  occasionally  observed  fishes  repulsive  in  form 
and  diabolical  in  expression,  whose  movements  were  most  de- 
cidedly stealthy  and  suspicious.  "What  business  had  they  to  grope 
in  the  caverns  and  peer  into  the  sunlight?  What  was  their  mis- 
sion in  the  garden  of  the  sea  gods?  Were  they  piscatory  bull 
dogs  to  guard  and  protect,  or  piscatory  demons  bent  on  marring 
a  happiness  which  their  lower  nature  was  unfitted  to  enjoy? 

Our  crew  consisted  in  part  of  expert  divers,  who,  as  soon  as  we 
anchored  over  or  near  to  a  coral  bed,  entered  the  little  forecastle, 
and  soon  re-appeared  in  costumes,  not  of  Parisian,  but  of  the 
Garden  of  Eden  cut — and  truly  "  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was 
not  arrayed  like  one  of  these."  When  a  growth  of  coral  was  dis- 
covered by  any  one  of  the  passengers,  peculiarly  beautiful  and 
coveted,  the  diver  immediately  plunged  overboard  and  soon  de- 
tached and  brought  it  to  the  surface,  unless  it  proved  to  be  too 
large  and  heavy,  or  too  securely  fastened  for  his  strength.  It 
is  a  novel  and  very  amusing  spectacle,  and  we  could  not  refrain 
from  speculating  upon  the  probable  impression  these  black  in- 
truders made  upon  the  gay  and  sportive  dwellers  in  coral  bowers. 
If  to  us  they  seemed  like  imps  of  destruction,  marring  a  beauty 
they  could  not  make,  and  disturbing  a  felicity  they  could  not 
appreciate  or  enjoy,  no  doubt  the  little  gorgeous  finny  philoso- 
phers were  not  only  shocked  and  appalled  by  the  desecration  and 
destruction  which  they  witnessed,  but  sorely  puzzled  to  reconcile 
it  with  their  ideas  of  what  infinite  justice  and  goodness  should 
either  do  or  permit. 

Slowly  moving  out  into  view  from  under  cover  at  the  base  of 
the  corals  there  is  seen  at  times  the  sea-urchin,  a  shell  fish  from 


SEA   URCHIITS.      LIFE   II^'  THE   ROCK.  323 

two  to  four  inches  in  diameter,  which  bristles  with  long,  black, 
needle-like  spines.  When  these  spines  are  removed  it  is  seen  to 
be  a  shell-fish,  round  but  flat  like  a  large  biscuit,  very  prettily 
shaped  and  marked.  The  negroes  daily  bring  these  shells  to  the 
court  of  the  hotel  and  sell  them  to  visitors  under  the  name  of 
"sea  eggs." 

These  curiously  armed  shell-fish  appear  to  perform  police  duty, 
and  their  sharp  spines  often  cause  the  colored  intruder  discom- 
fited to  retire.  One  of  our  divers  was  made  quite  lame  by  one 
of  these  creatures,  the  broken  spine  in  his  foot  irritating  and  in- 
flaming the  flesh,  and  requiring  for  its  proper  removal  the  in- 
struments and  skill  of  the  surgeon. 

The  barbs  with  which  the  spir.es  are  covered,  are  like  so  many 
minute  fish  hooks;  they  readily  admit  the  entrance  of  the  spines 
into  the  flesh  of  man  or  fish,  but  jorcvent  their  removal;  so  that 
as  an  enemy,  although  small,  they  are  somewhat  formidable. 

In  consulting  tie  works  that  have  been  occasionally  published 
concerning  the  Bahamas,  we  have  been  astonished  at  finding  iu 
them  so  little  in  regard  to  the  great  clearness  and  brilliant  hues 
of  the  water,  and  the  strange  and  exquisitely  beautiful  sub-aque- 
ous world  which  the  water  glass  reveals.  Catesby  appears  to 
have  seen  and  described  more  than  most,  if  not  all,  the  authors 
who  have  succeeded  him. 

There  was  occasionally  brought  to  us  by  the  divers  specimens 
of  corals  and  gorgonias  with  some  of  the  soft  coral ine  rock  to 
which  they  adhered,  and  to  which  they  seemed  rooted,  and  we 
were  surprised  to  see  that  these  fragments  of  the  rocky  floor  of 
the  sea  gardens  abounded  with  worms  and  other  forms  of  life. 
Mr.  Phelps  states  that  he  broke  a  large  piece  of  this  rock  into 
small  fragments,  and  found  in  it  a  number  of  small  crabs,  two 
or  three  small  star  fishes,  three  or  more  shrimi)s,  three  worms 
organized  like  a  centiped,  and  some  monopod  worms.     He  be- 


234  ISLES  OF  SUMMEft. 

lieved  it  contained  not  less  than  fifty  living  creatures.  Channels 
had  also  been  cut  in  the  stone  six  inclics  deep,  by  stone-boring 
mollusks.  When  Capt.  Basil  Hall  wrote  a  description  of  the 
corals  in  his  "Voyage  to  the  Islands  of  Loo  Choo,"  which  the 
author  of  "The  Pelican  Island"  used  as  a  text  for  his  poem,  he 
evidently  supposed  that  corallum  is  the  work  of  the  "  Avorms  of 
different  lengths  and  colors"  with  which  the  bottom  rock  is 
"full," — hence  the  great  mistake  which  both  authors  made. 

We  deem  it  not  improbable  that  it  will  ultimately  be  discovered 
that  corals,  as  well  as  sponges,  can  be  artificially  propagated;  if 
so,  we  see  no  reason  why  the  more  valuable  red  varieties  may  not 
be  successfully  cultivated  in  the  Bahama  waters.  The  colonial 
government,  at  a  small  expense,  can  by  wise  legislation  cause 
experiments  looking  to  such  a  result  to  be  made.  The  old  world 
has  coLmizcd  the  new  with  men,  choice  live  stock,  delicious  fruits 
and  destructive  insects — why  should  it  not  give  us  its  superior 
sponges  and  corals? 

Eci'erring  the  reader  to  the  excellent  work  of  Prof.  Dana,  upon 
"Corals  and  Coral  Islands,"  for  full  and  comi)lete  information 
from  a  scientific  standpoint  upon  the  subject  of  tliis  chapter,  we 
take  leave  of  the  corals  for  the  present,  fully  aware  that  we  have 
hardly  crossed  the  threshold  where  we  wouM  have  been  only  too 
happy,  had  we  been  able,  to  fully  enter  and  thoroughly  explore. 


ECHINODERMS. 

1.  EcMnanthus  rosaceus.  Upper  side.  One-third  natural  size,  covered 
with  short  purple  or  olive  spines  vphen  alive. 

2.  Oreaster  gigas.  It  is  sometimes  more  than  a  foot  in  diameter.  Covered 
with  hard  knobs  connected  by  low  ridges.     Bright  red  or  orange,  when  alive. 

3.  4.  Cidaris  tribuloides.  4.  A  small  specimen  in  its  natural  state. 
3.  The  same  after  the  spines  have  been  removed,  showing  the  knobs  to  which 
they  are  attached.     One-half  natural  size. 

5.  Biaderna  setosuin.  A  "Sea  Egg"  with  very  long  spines.  Black,  or 
banded  with  black  and  yellow.  When  the  spines  are  removed  it  resembles 
fig.  3,  but  the  knobs  are  smaller  and  more  numerous.     One-half  natural  size. 


'S- 


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ECHINODERMS 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Tlie  Extent  of  the  World  of  Waters  and  its  Wonderful  Fauna.  Bahama 
Fishes.  Some  Eminently  Distinguished  for  their  Brilliant  Colors,  and  Others 
for  their  Singularity,  described.  Fish  that  are  Poisonous.  Table  Fish.  The 
Bahamas  Rich  in  Beautiful  Molluslcs.  They  Harmonize  with  the  other  Ex- 
quisite Forms  of  Life,  and  tcith  the  Brilliant  Waters.  The  Shores  Paved  with 
Shells  Wonderful  in  Form  and  Color.     The  Condi. 

• '  In  the  free  element  beneath  us  swarm 
Fishes  of  every  color,  form,  and  kind, — 
Strimge  forms,  resplendent  colors,  kinds  unnumbered— 
Which  language  cannot  paint,  and  mariner 
Hath  never  eleswhere  seen." — Montgomeet. 

When  we  consider  that  the  sea  occupies  more  than  two-thirds 
of  the  earth's  surface  ;  that  its  normal  temperature  is,  from 
the  equator  to  the  arctic  circle,  nearly  uniform  every  wliere, 
below  a  few  hundred  perpendicuhir  feet  of  its  surface;  that  its 
depths  are  most  profound,  being  measured  by  miles;  that  al- 
though it  is  for  man's  convenience  geographically  divided,  and 
called  by  different  names,  yet  that  all  the  so-called  oceans  are 
in  fact  one,  and  that  it  abounds  throughout  tlie  whole  of  its  vast 
extent  with  animals  that  arc  created  and  fitted  to  live  in  the 
water  as  others  are  upon  the  land,  we  cannot  fail  to  see  that  in 
all  probability  its  fauna  is  far  more  extensive  and  varied  than 
that  of  the  land,  and  that  man's  knowledge  concerning  it  is  very 
meagre,  superficial  and  imperfect.  It  is  quite  recently  tluit  the 
gigantic  cuttle  fish  has  been  taken  out  of  the  realm  of  fable  and 

225 


236  ISLES   OF    SUMMER. 

placed  in  the  wide  domain  of  fact.  While  Victor  Hugo's  "  devil 
fish,"  closely  resembles,  in  many  particulars;  the  gigantic  cuttle 
fish,  yet,  to  some  extent,  it  is  a  creature  which  the  imagination 
has  constructed  upon  a  substantial  basis  of  fact.  A  scientific 
gentleman,  learned  in  all  the  i^iscatory  learning  of  the  present 
day,  stated  in  our  presence  before  the  Connecticut  Academy  of 
Arts  and  Sciences,  that  he  had  no  doubt  of  the  existence  of  the 
sea  serpent,  and  that  before  many  years  it  will  be  captured  and 
critically  examined  by  scientific  exjDcrts.  There  is  something 
truly  grand  in  the  movements  of  the  monsters  of  the  deep 
througli  tlie  vast  depths  and  immense  spaces  of  the  great  world 
of  waters.  But  it  is  apparent  that  while  some  fish  are  able  to 
wander  at  will  in  various  directions  around  the  world,  others  are 
localized  by  their  necessities,  and  complete  their  little  circle  of 
life  very  near  their  family  spawning  ground.  Hence  the  water 
that  surrounds  the  Isles  of  Summer,  and  that  covers  the  Banks 
out  of  which  they  rise,  has  its  own  peculiar  and  wonderful  fauna, 
some  glimpses  of  which  were  revealed  to  us  while  we  were  look- 
ing through  the  water  glasses  at  the  corals,  and  th-^  curious  and 
wonderful  forms  of  life  which  surround  and  adorn  them. 

Many  of  these  fish  Mr.  Phelps  secured  and  preserved,  and 
having  carefully  and  critically  examined  them  at  his  home  in 
Vermont,  and  closely  studied  them  both  in  and  out  of  the  water 
daring  his  five  montlis  stay  in  Nassau,  he  has  furnished  us  de- 
tailed descriptions  of  some  of  them,  which  we  have  utilized.  We 
have  edited  his  notes,  and  shaped  them  somewhat  to  fill  the 
limited  space  that  we  have  been  able  to  spare  for  them  in  a  vol- 
ume which  treats  of  so  many  other  subjects.  We  did  not  our- 
selves make  the  fish  a  special  object  of  study.  We  have  retained, 
as  far  as  possible,  the  language  of  Mr.  Phelps,  and  to  him  and 
Mr.  Catesby  should  be  given  credit  for  whatever  of  merit  there 
may  be  in  nearly  all  our  piscatory  pen  pictures. 


The  Rainhow  fish  is  from  six  to  t\velve  inches  long.  Its  color 
is  a  dark  green.  Its  scales  are  large,  and  their  tinted  margins 
reflect  the  light  in  all  the  colors  of  the  rain-bow — hence  its  name. 
Its  teeth  are  like  those  of  the  bluefish,  with  two  plates  upon  each 
jaw,  which  protrude  from  its  lips. 

The  Parrot  fish  is  most  brilliantly  colored.  It  is  principally 
of  a  bluish  green,  with  purple  marks  on  the  back  and  near  the 
mouth,  and  yellow  and  red  marks  near  the  tail.  The  scales  are 
edged  with  a  dark  wine  color. 

Catesby's  description  of  it  is  more  full;  he  says  the  body  of  the 
Parrot  fish  is  covered  with  large  green  scales;  the  eye  is  red  and 
yellow;  the  upper  part  of  the  head  brown,  the  lower  part  and 
gills  blue,  bordered  with  dusky  red;  a  streak  of  red  extends  from 
the  tail  to  l>ehind  the  gills,  at  the  upper  end  of  which  there  is  a 
bright  yellow  spot.  It  has  five  fins;  one  extends  almost  the 
length  of  the  back,  and  is  of  a  bay  or  cinnamon  color;  there  are 
two  behind  the  gills  blended  with  black,  green  and  purplish  col- 
ors, with  their  edge  verged  with  blue.  Under  the  abdomen  is 
another  red  fin,  verged  with  ])lue;  under  the  anus  extends  another 
long,  narrow  green  fin,  with  a  list  of  red  through  the  middle  of 
it.  At  the  basis  of  the  tail,  on  eacli  side,  is  a  large  yellow  spot. 
The  tail  is  large,  forked,  and  green,  with  a  curved  line  running 
througli  the  middle,  parallel  to  the  curve  of  the  tail,  and  ending 
in  white  points.  It  is  more  rcmarkal)le  for- its  beauty  than  es- 
teemed for  delicacy. 

The  /Spanish  IIo(j  fish  is  about  ten  inches  in  length,  and  weighs 
about  one  pound.  The  color  of  its  upper  portion — being  all  above 
a  line  drawn  from  tlic  extremity  of  the  dorsal  fin  to  the  pectoral 
fin — is  a  dark  purple  wine  color,  with  dark  brown  bands  on  the 
edges  of  the  tail;  below  this  lino  the  color  is  yellow,  deepening 
in  some  places  into  orange.     It  is  beautiful  but  poisonous. 

The  Yellow  ^^if/e^^jiVi  is  unsurpassed  for  the  admiration  which 


22^  ISLES  or  srMMEft. 

its  beauty  elicits.  Colored  plates  are  necessary  to  giye  any  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  Avcalth  of  coloring  witli  Avhicli  it  is  endowed, 
The  body  is  short  and  high.  The  dorsal  and  anal  fins  are  very 
large,  protruding  at  the  anterior  parts,  and  thick  at  the  base  and 
corners  with  scales,  so  that  they  seem  to  be  a  continuation  of  the 
body.  The  scales  are  large  and  delicate,  of  a  brown  color,  with 
a  shade  of  olive  green,  and  each  of  them  is  edged  with  a  lighter 
tint.  The  chin,  nape,  upper  eyelid,  base  of  the  pectoral  and 
neutral  fins,  and  the  margin  of  the  dorsal  and  anal  fins  are  a 
bright  cobalt  blue,  with  lines  of  the  same  color  extending  over 
the  operculum.  The  caudal  fin,  and  the  continuation  or  aj^pend- 
age  of  the  longest  spines  of  the  dorsal  and  anal  fins  are  bright 
yellow.  The  motions  of  this,  as  of  all  the  other  angel  fish,  are 
slow,  and  it  is  usually  to  be  seen  about  the  docks,  reefs,  and  old 
wrecks.     Its  flesh  is  not  much  prized. 

The  Black  Angel  fisJi  is  of  a  much  larger  size  than  the  preced- 
ing, and  is  of  an  uniform  black  color.  The  inner  surfaces  of  the 
pectoral  fins  and  the  margin  of  the  tail  are  of  a  bright  yellow. 

The  Spanish  Angel  fish  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  fishes. 
The  anterior  part  of  the  body  is  a  jet  black,  while  the  posterior 
and  tail  are  a  light  yelloAV.  The  edges  of  the  gills,  and  margin 
of  the  tail  are  a  salmon  red.  color.  It  is  seldom  over  five  inches 
in  length,  and  is  caught  in  nets  and  traps,  its  mouth  being  too 
small  and  delicate  for  the  hook. 

Catesby  truthfully  says,  that  this  fish  is  ''gorgeous,  and  may 
be  called  the  butterfly  of  the  sea,  it  is  so  beautiful." 

The  Moon  or  C  resent  Angel  fish  has  a  body  much  compressed 
and  elevated.  It  has  six  dark  vertical  bands.  The  third  dorsal 
spine  is  elongated,  and  tlie  anterior  portion  of  the  dorsal  and  anal 
fins  are  protruding.  The  four  cresent-shaped  marks  on  the  body 
are  of  a  bright  yellow,  the  margin  of  the  tail  is  edged  with  the 
game  tint.     It  sometimes  is  found  eighteen  inches  long. 


BEAUTTFFL   FISTT.  929 

The  Four-Eyed  Angel  fish  has  a  hlack  spot  on  each  side  of  its 
tail.  The  fishermen  believe  these  spots  to  be  an  extra  pair  of 
eyes — hence  its  name.  The  color  of  the  body  is  a  pearly  gray; 
the  vertical  fins  are  a  bright  yellow,  and  a  black  band  runs  across 
the  eye.  It  has  a  nearly  circular  outline,  with  a  projecting  and 
protruding  snout.  It  is  a  delicate,  graceful  fish.  It  is  seen 
among  the  sea-feathers,  and  around  the  coral  reefs.  It  seldom 
exceeds  four  inches  in  length,  and  must  be  caught  with  net  or 
trap,  as  its  mouth  is  too  small  for  the  hook. 

The  Bahama  Turbot  is  of  a  briglit  bluish  green  above,  and  of 
an  orange  and  orange  blue  beneath.  The  dorsal  and  anal  fins 
are  very  large,  and  these,  with  the  tail,  have  long  continuations, 
all  of  which  are  of  a  dark  green  color.  There  is  a  light  green 
band  between  the  tail  and  body.  Extending  round  from  the 
mouth  are  two  curved,  slate-tinted  marks  running  back  to  the 
gills.  The  pectoral  fins  are  small.  From  the  eyes  radiate  slen- 
der umber-brown  lines,  some  of  which  pass  around  in  front  of 
the  head  from  eye  to  eye.  The  scales  are  very  rough  and  strong, 
and  are  often  used  for  scouring  and  polishing  wood  and  metals. 
The  first  dorsal  fin  is  very  prominent;  the  first  spine,  being  very 
stout,  is  often  used  as  a  weapon.  The  body  is  very  much  de- 
pressed, and  resembles  that  of  the  angel  fish. 

The  Trumpet  or  Unicorn  fish,  much  resembles  the  turbot  in 
structure,  but  its  body  is  more  elongated  and  compressed,  being 
about  twenty-four  inches  in  length,  and  nearly  half  an  inch  in 
thickness.  Unlike  the  turbot,  the  dorsal  and  anal  fins  arc  very 
transparent,  with  a  slight  yellow  tinge.  The  tail  is  long  and  very 
small;  the  mouth  is  situated  on  the  upper  edge  of  the  snout;  the 
teeth  are  large  and  compact;  the  color  is  a  light  ash  tint,  with 
many  peculiar  lines  and  marks  of  a  light  slate  blue;  a  long  slen- 
der spine  rises  from  the  head — hence  its  name.  The  scales  are 
minute  and  resemble  those  of  the  shark. 

^0 


336  ISLE^l   OF   SUMMEli. 

Catesby  says  tliat  this  fish  is  sometimes  three  feet  long;  that 
it  is  shaped  like  a  rolling-pin,  and  tapers  towards  the  head  and 
tail;  that  it  can  raise,  and  point  backwards  and  forwards  at  its 
pleasure,  the  tapering  sharp  pointed  bone  that  is  found  a  little 
behind  the  eyes,  but  that  this  bone  is  brittle  and  easily  broken. 
He  also  states  that  this  fish  feeds  on  shells  and  coralline  sub- 
stances, and  is  considered  poisonous,  and  is  found  where  corals 
are  plentiful. 

The  Coio  Jish  is  from  five  to  twenty  inches  in  length.  Tlie 
appearance  of  this  fish  is  exceedingly  queer  and  comical.  This 
is  especially  true  of  its  face,  which  is  that  of  its  great  namesake 
in  small  miniature.  "Whether  this  shell  fish  has  infringed  upon 
the  cow's  facial  copyright,  or  the  cow  upon  that  of  this  odd  fish, 
we  are  unable  to  decide.  Its  body  is  shaped  like  a  beech  nut, 
being  triangular.  The  shell  in  which  it  is  entirely  enclosed  (ex- 
cept the  lips,  base  of  fins,  hind  part  of  tail  and  eyes),  is  composed 
of  hexagonal  osseous  scales;  the  parts  excepted  are  covered  with 
a  soft  skin;  over  each  eye  there  is  a  prominent  conical  spine, 
which  points  straight  forward,  and  helps  much  to  give  the  face 
of  the  fish  its  cow-like  appearance.  On  each  neutral  ridge  there 
is  a  flat  spine  directed  backward.  The  caropace  is  of  a  rich, 
bright  blue  color,  with  brown  lines,  and  is  very  beautiful  when 
seen  in  a  good  light,  but  it  changes  a  good  deal  and  the  colors 
soon  vanish  after  death.  Its  motions  are  slow  and  cautious,  and 
it  sometimes  ejects  water  from  its  mouth  to  a  distance  of  four 
feet. 

The  Triangular  Jish  or  Cuckold  Shell-fish,  (as  it  is  called  by 
tlie  natives),  is  about  twelve  inches  in  length,  and  sometimes 
weighs  two  jjounds.  The  integuments  of  the  body  are  modified 
into  a  three  ridged  caropace,  composed  of  hexagonal  osseous 
scales.  The  snout-like  mouth,  the  basis  of  the  fins,  and  the 
hind  part  of  the  tail  are  covered  by  soft  skin.     On  each  neutral 


BEAUtlFlTL  FISH.  ^31 

ridge  is  a  flat  prominent  spine,  directed  backwards.  The  color 
is  quite  changeable;  it  is  usually  of  a  bluish  cast,  with  brown 
spots  and  marks.  It  is  a  slow  swimmer,  and  is  often  seen  rest- 
ing on  the  bottom.  It  will  live  several  hours  out  of  water  with- 
out  undergoing  any  apparent  change,  but  when  returned  to  the 
water,  it  is  at  first  unable  to  sink  to  the  bottom  on  account  of 
the  air  it  has  absorbed.  Its  pectoral  fins  are  constantly  in  mo- 
tion, apparently  for  the  purpose  of  fanning  a  current  of  water 
through  the  gills.  Its  flesh  is  of  a  light  color,  and  its  appear- 
ance and  taste  is  like  the  breast  of  a  chicken.  It  is  best  baked, 
but  is  said  to  be  at  times  poisonous. 

The  Squirrel  fish  is  very  beautiful.  Its  color  is  scarlet,  and  in 
brightness  exceeds  that  of  the  gold  fish.  Its  body  is  elongated 
and  slightly  compressed.  Its  head  is  well  proportioned,  and  has 
prominent  spines.  It  swims  quickly  and  vivaciously.  The  local 
name  refers  to  a  noise  uttered  by  it  which  resembles  the  bark 
of  a  squirrel.  It  is  very  common  in  the  Bahamas,  and  is  usually 
the  angler's  first  prize.  It  is  little  valued  as  a  table  fish  on  ac- 
count of  its  small  size. 

The  Illnd  is  a  very  common  and  very  handsome  fish,  and  some- 
times attains  a  length  of  eighteen  inches.  It  is  of  a  brownish  or 
rosy-white  color,  and  is  marked  with  numerous  deep  rose-red 
spots.  Being  very  voracious,  it  is  easily  caught.  Its  flesh  is 
finely  flavored,  and  is  seldom,  if  ever,  poisonous. 

The  Blue  fish  is  from  ten  to  eighteen  inches  long,  and  weiglis 
about  two  pounds.  Its  color  is  ultramarine,  with  a  few  pink 
marks  about  the  head  and  eyes.  Catesby  says  the  iris  of  its 
eyes  is  red.  Its  scales  are  relatively  large,  and  are  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  fancy  work. 

Tlie  Bo)te  fish  has  scales  which  are  used  in  making  the  most 
exquisite  fancy  work.  The  scales,  after  being  washed  in  several 
waters,  are  cut  into  the  desired  shape,  and  pierced  in  two  places 


232  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

for  the  very  small  silver  wires  witli  wliich  they  are  fastened. 
Several  weeks  time  is  required  to  make  a  single  scale  basket. 

The  Alewife  is  of  a  greenish  color,  and  is  closely  allied  to 
Slippery  Dick. 

The  Great  Hog  Fish  is  named  from  its  swine-like  profile  and 
dentition.  Its  body  is  compressed  and  elevated;  its  snout  point- 
ed; its  dorsal  fin  protruding,  and  its  skin  resembles  brown  and 
red  marble,  being  light  beneath.  "When  it  swims,  the  dorsal  fins 
and  their  long  streamer-like  appendages  give  it  a  singular  and 
graceful  appearance.  It  is  quite  common,  attains  a  length  of 
thirty  inches,  and  a  weight  of  thirty  pounds.  Its  flesh  is  hard, 
white  and  exquisitely  flavored,  and  it  is  numbered  among  the 
choicest  table  fish. 

The  School  Master  is  fifteen  inches  in  length,  weighs  three 
to  four  pounds,  and  its  color  is  an  attractive  bronze.  It  is  not 
a  safe  table  fish. 

The  Porcupine  Fish,  or  Sea  Hedge  Hog,  is  a  truly  wonderful 
creature  on  account  of  its  peculiar  armor,  and  of  its  capacity  to 
swallow  either  air  or  water,  and  thereby  become  ball-shaped. 
Its  body  is  covered  with  triangular  plates,  from  each  of  which 
rises  a  sharp  spine,  and  some  of  the  sjiines  are  an  inch  in  length. 
When  alarmed,  it  fills  its  body  with  air  or  water,  thereby  assum- 
ing a  globular  form,  erects  all  its  spines,  and  presents  a  formid- 
able appearance.  In  this  position  it  resembles  an  immense  ches- 
nut  burr.  Its  color  is  brown  above  and  light  beneath,  with  spots 
of  darker  brown  near  the  operculum.  One  of  the  smaller  ones 
which  Mr.  Phelps  secured,  he  says,  was  five  inches  long,  and  four 
inches  in  diameter. 

The  Sioell  Fish,  or  Puffer,  is  of  an  olive  green  color,  and  its 
surface  is  rongliened  with  prickles.  Its  body  is  oblong  and  cylin- 
drical. It  derives  its  name  from  the  swollen  ball-like  shape  which 
it  assumes  when  taken  from  the  water,  and  irritated.     It  is  from 


r.^Jj^ 


\^^,y 


i-i  ^  ^  <^ 


J  rt  ISmffrton 


itrc.l^mder3oaa.CT  isard  fevHavErn  . 


FISHES. 


FISHES. 

1.     Echeneis  albicauda,  "Sucker,"  from  " Storer's  Fishes  of  Mass."     One- 
fourth  natural  size.     Attaches  itself  to  other  fishes  by  the  sucker  on  its  head. 
3.     Fistularia  tabaccaria,  "Trumpet  Fish."     One-fourth  natural  size. 

3.  Malthea  mspertilio,  "Bat  Fish."     One-half  natural  size. 

4.  CoryphmnaMppui-uH,  "Dolphin."  Colors,  metallic  green  and  yellow 
■with  black  spots.  Remarkable  for  its  changes  of  color  when  taken  from  the 
water. 

5.  Zygmna  tudes.  "  Hammer-head  Shark. " 

6.  Cldlomycterus  reticulatus,  "  Porcupine  Fish. "     One-fourth  natural  size. 

7.  OsPradon  quadrlcornis,  "Trunk  Fish,"  "  Cow  Fish."  One-fourth  nat- 
ural size.     This  and  the  last  are  drawn  from  stuffed  specimens. 

8.  ChcBtodoti  striatuH,  "Angel  Fish."     One-half  natural  size. 

9.  Eques  lanceolatus.     One-half  natural  size. 
Figures  2,  3,  4,  5,  8  and  9  are  reduced  from  Cuvier. 


\^'*"^/*sr%5V.' •■-.?, 


J  H  Emerton 


111  tkE'imdersan  &Cr  i  sand  New  Haven  Ct. 


FISHES. 


THE  SUCKIXG   flkVL.      POISONOUS   FISIT.  ^33 

Eix  to  hvelve  inches  long,  but  has  no  value  as  a  table  fish.     It  is 
abundant  near  Nassau,  and  is  sometimes  called  the  Globe  fish. 

The  Sucking  fish  has  a  flattened  disk  on  the  ui^per  part  of  its 
head,  into  which  the  first  dorsal  fin  is  transformed.  This  disk 
is  composed  of  numerous  transverse,  cartilaginous,  movable 
jDlates.  By  means  of  the  suction  or  adhesive  power  of  this  disk, 
its  owner  fastens  to  a  shark  or  other  free  and  far-roving  swimmer, 
''dead-heads  "  itself  about  the  ocean  without  any  labor  or  expense 
to  itself,  visits  distant  seas,  and  forages  its  supplies  from  the 
marine  monsters  that  jorovids  it,  nolens  volens,  with  a  free,  un- 
limited traveling  ticket  for  life.  This  is  the  fisher  fish  to  which 
we  have  heretofore  referred. 

Cutesby  says  it  is  a  foot  iu  length,  and  that  its  head  is  equal 
in  size  to  its  body;  that  "  the  crown  of  its  head  is  flat,  and  of  an 
oval  form,  with  a  rid2:e  of  rising;,  running  longitudinal  and  cross- 
ways  to  its  sixteen  ridges,  with  hollow  intervals  between,  by  which 
structure  it  can  fasten  itself  to  any  animal  or  other  substance;" 
that  he  has  taken  "five  of  them  off  the  body  of  a  shark,  which 
Avere  fixed  so  fast  to  different  parts  of  its  body,  that  it  required 
great  strength  to  separate  them;"  that  he  has  "seen  them  dis- 
engaged and  swimming  very  deliberately  near  the  sharks  without 
the  latter  attempting  to  swallow  them." 

Some  of  the  Bahama  fish  are  very  poisonous.  We  were  told 
by  a  Nassau  gentleman  that  in  some  cases  the  question  of  the 
safety  of  eating  certain  fish  depends  upon  the  place  where  they 
are  caught — the  same  kind  of  fish  being  in  one  place  wholesome, 
and  poisonous  in  another.  Some  are  said  to  be  safe  for  the  table 
only  when  young.  It  is  probable  from  these  facts  that  the  fish 
are  poisoned  by  their  food,  but  whether  that  food  is  of  a  min- 
eral nature,  (which  we  are  inclined  to  doubt,)  or  vegetable  or 
animal,  we  are  not  informed.  Very  likely  some  localities  pro- 
duce marine  vegetable  growths  which  are  poisonous  to  the  fish 


SS4  ISLBS  6t  ^tMilfiR. 

that  feed  upon  them.  As  some  kinds  of  Bahama  fish  are  always 
poisonous,  these  may  infect  other  fish  when  they  liappen  occa- 
sionally to  dine  upon  them.  The  toad  fish  is  so  poisonous  that 
in  one  case  the  exlialation  from  it  severely  affected  a  gentleman 
who  was  mounting  it. 

Flying  Fish  are  very  plentiful  in  the  Bahama  waters.  While 
yachting  outside  of  Nassau  harbor,  and  during  our  steamship 
voyages  between  Florida  and  the  islands,  it  was  an  agreeable 
pastime  to  observe  them.  They  looked  like  small  birds,  and 
skimmed  along  above  the  water  like  flocks  of  ducks,  maintaining 
themselves  in  the  air  for  so  long  a  period  of  time  that  those  not 
familiar  with  them  would  naturally  suppose  them  to  be  a  species 
of  water  fowl.  Catesby  says  that  this  singular  fish  has  a  somewhat 
loug  and  round  body,  and  a  small  mouth,  without  teeth;  that 
the  two  fins  behind  the  gills  are  extraordinarily  large,  and  spread 
very  wide;  that  upon  the  hind  part  of  its  back  there  is  another 
small  fin;  that  under  it  there  is  a  fourth  one,  thin,  large  and 
forked;  that  its  scales  are  like  those  of  the  herriug,  bat  of  a  darker 
color;  that,  as  they  are  a  prey  to  both  fish  and  fowls,  nature  has 
given  them  large  fins  which  serve  them  not  only  for  swimming, 
but  for  flight,  and  that  it  is  a  good  table  fish. 

The  Rudder  Fish  is  described  by  the  same  author  as  being 
quite  small,  but  able,  notwithstanding,  to  keep  pace  with  ships 
of  the  largest  class.  The  upper  part  of  its  body  is  brown,  with 
large  specks  of  dusky  yellow.  The  under  part  of  its  body  is 
alternately  streaked  with  white  and  yellow.  He  adds  that  in 
crossing  the  ocean,  ships  are  seldom  free  from  them. 

The  Murray^  says  Mr.  Catesby,  in  its  structure  resembles  the 
common  eel;  the  iris  of  the  eye  is  white;  two  fleshy  barbels  hang 
from  the  nostrils;  a  fin  with  an  even  white  ridge  begins  behind 
the  head,  and  extends  the  whole  length  of  the  back.  The  whole 
body  is  covered  with  a  light  gray  skin,  sprinkled  v/ith  innumer- 


CEPHALOPODS. 

1.  Loligo  Pleii,  "  CuMe  Fish."  One  of  the  "  Squids."  One-lmlf  natural 
size.  Color  light  3'ellow  with  dark  spots,  changeable.  Reduced  from  D'Or- 
bigny's  figure. 

2.  Octopus  vulffaris,  "DevW  Fish."  One-fourth  natural  size.  A  specimen 
with  arms  five  feet  long  is  said  to  have  been  found  at  Nafssau.  Color,  dark  pur- 
ple and  reddish  brown,  changeable.  Reduced  and  altered  from  D'Orbigny's 
figure. 


f 


J.i-L.Eruen..;; 


SpUID  -  OCl'OPUS 


able  black  spots.  One  kind  of  this  fish  is  green  and  6poi:ted  in 
rhe  same  manner  with  the  black;  perhaps  it  is  of  a  different  sex 
only.  He  adds — 'Hhe  inhabitants  of  the  Bahamas  will  eat  only 
the  green  sort;  they  reject  the  black  as  poisonous.  It  is  custom- 
ary for  this  fish,  as  they  lie  lurking  among  the  hollow  rocks  and 
corals,  to  bite  peoples'  legn  that  are  exposed  to  them,  though  the 
bite  is  of  no  other  ill  consequence  than  fetching  blood." 

The  Mutton  fish,  he  also  states,  for  the  excellence  of  its  taste, 
is  in  greater  demand  than  any  other  at  the  Bahama  islands.  It 
has  five  fins;  a  long  spiny  one  on  its  back,  like  that  of  the  perch, 
of  an  amber  color.  The  upper  part  of  its  head  is  a  dusky  black; 
the  irides  of  the  eye  are  a  bright  red;  the  upper  part  of  the  back 
is  a  dark  reddish  brown,  the  red  brightening  gradually  to  the 
portion  below,  which  is  white,  faintly  traced  with  red.  The  gills 
are  shaded  partly  with  purple  and  red. 

The  common  Cuttlefish,  [Loligo  special,)  is  found  in  the 
vicinity  of  Nassau.  It  has  two  large  prominent  eyes  of  a  greenish 
hue — one  upon  each  side  of  its  head;  eight  arms  project  out  from 
its  head  and  surround  its  mouth.  These  arras  have  on  their 
inner  sides  rows  of  suckers  in  the  form  of  muscular  cup-like  discs 
with  serrated  edges,  with  which  the  animal  can  strongly  fasten 
itself  to  any  living  or  inanimate  object  within  its  reach.  It  is 
also  armed  with  two  long  tentacles  which  push  out  from  the  head 
and  resemble  the  arms,  but  exceed  them  in  length.  At  the  end 
of  each  tentacle  or  long  arm  there  is  a  sort  of  fingerloss  hand, 
armed  also  with  suckers.  This  curious  creature  has  a  sack  in 
which  it  secretes  a  brown  or  black  fluid,  which  contains  a  large 
amount  of  a  carbonaceous  pigment,  (".sej!?ia,")  and  various  min- 
eral salts.  When  pursued  by  an  enemy,  this  colored  fluid  is  dis- 
charged in  jets,  and  by  means  of  its  color,  and  perhaps  by  reason 
of  its  offensive  character,  it  aids  the  cuttle  fish  in  escaping  from 
or  contending  with  enemies  who  are  not  prepared  for  this  kind 


§36  ISLE.^  OF   fiiUMMER. 

of  sub-marine  warfare.  The  coloring  matter  of  its  -'ink"  isrery 
indestructible,  and  has  been  handed  down  with  fossils  from  afar 
distant  geologic  age.  In  making  sepia  paint  it  was  formerly 
utilized.  The  cuttle  fish  is  a  kind  of  sea  acrobat,  and  f  rei^uently 
walks  by  the  aid  of  its  arms  upon  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  not  ex- 
actly upon  its  head,  but  head  downwards.  When  troubled,  its 
arms  enable  it  also,  while  in  a  pei'pendicular  position,  to  swim 
through  the  water. 

The  integument  of  the  cuttle  fish  consists  of  several  layers, 
one  of  which  (corresponding  to  the  lowest  layer  of  the  epider- 
mis) contains  numerous  large  cells  which  are  filled  with  pigment 
granules;  and  the  expansion  and  contraction  of  these  cells  causes 
the  marvelous  play  of  changing  colors,  which  the  cuttle  fish  ex- 
hibits when  excited. 

A  gentleman  who  was  recently  gathering  algae  in  the  harbor 
of  Nassau,  unintentionally  shook  hands  with  a  cuttle  fish  which 
was  clinging  to  a  rock  in  the  water.  He  mistook  it  for  a  rare 
marine  plant,  and  exiierienccd  considerable  difficulty  in  inducing 
his  new  piscatory  acquaintance  to  let  go.  The  latter  was  finally 
disabled  and  captured.  We  are  informed  that  another  species  of 
the  cuttle  fish  is  found  near  Nassau. 

The  star  fish  and  other  members  of  the  family  of  radiates  are 
found  in  the  waters  of  the  Bahamas. 

Mr.  Sargeant,  in  giving  some  account  of  the  Bahama  fish,  says: 

''  The  hound  fish  are  shajied  very  much  like  an  eel,  for  which 
it  is  a  good  substitute.  It  is  semi-transparent,  with  bones  re- 
sembling light  blue  glass  thread.  Its  snout  or  bill  is  often  eight 
or  ten  inches  long,  slim  and  sharp,  with  a  row  of  teeth  running 
the  entire  length  on  either  side.  The  maray  and  stingray  are  a 
species  of  the  eel.  The  whipray  has  a  body  shajDed  like  a  floun- 
der, with  a  tail  often  ten  feet  long,  tapering  from  about  one  incli 
in  diameter  at  the  butt,  to  one-eighth  of  an  inch  at  the  small  end. 


i;  nraertcr.  from 


■itKPanaorscmfl Crisand  Me'\'Hav=ri  Ol 


SNAIL  SHELLS. 


SHELLS  OF  M0LLU8KS. 

1.  Tectariua  muricatus.     Natural  size.     Color  gray  and  purple. 

2.  Uvanilla.     Natural  size.     Color  yellow  and  pearly  white. 

8.  Scalaria.  Natural  size.  Color  light  brown,  with  a  silky  lustre.  Ribs 
white. 

4.  Tripjii  variegatus.  "  Trumpet  Shell."  One-third  natural  size.  Brown, 
w^ith  dark  spots. 

5.  Cassis  camerj.  "  King  Conch."  One-quarter  natural  size.  The  smooth 
lip  is  light  brown,  with  dark  brown  markings.  From  this  species  of  shell 
cameos  are  cut. 

6.  Cyprcsa  exantliema.  "Cowrie."  One-half  natural  size.  Brown,  with 
white  spots. 

7.  Strombus  bitubd'culatus.  "Small  Conch."  One -half  natural  size.  In- 
side of  the  lip  white  and  pink. 

8.  Solarium  granulatum.  Top  view.  Natural  size.  Color  gray,  with 
brown  and  white  stripes. 

9.  Fasciolaria  tulipa.  One-third  natural  size.  White,  with  brown  spots 
and  spiral  lines. 

10.  Oliva  UUerata.  Natural  size.  Polished  white,  with  browa  zig-zag 
lines. 

11.  Janira  ziczac.  One  of  the  "Scollops."  One-half  natural  size.  Color, 
brown. 

12.  The  same  seen  from  the  side.     Lower  valve  nearly  flat. 

13.  Tellina  radiata.  "Rising  Sun."  Natural  size.  White  or  pale  yel- 
low, with  pink  radiating  stripes. 

14.  Callista  WMCulata.     Natural  size.     Light  brown  with  darker  spots. 

15.  Pecten  nodosm.     A  "Scollop."     One-half  natural  size.     Dark  red. 

16.  Byssoarca  NocB.  "Noah's  Ark."  One-half  natural  size.  Brown  and 
white,  partly  covered  with  a  rough  epidermis. 

17.  Amcula  Atlantica.  One-half  natural  size.  Color,  brown  and  green. 
Rough  on  the  outside  and  pearly  within. 

18.  Ostrma  folium.  "  Racoon  Oyster."  Attached  to  root  of  u  mangrove 
tree  growing  in  the  water.     Small  specimen.     Natural  size. 

19.  Chione  paphia.  A  small  one.  Natural  size.  Polished  while,  with 
bro'.vn  markings. 


BEAUTIFUL   SHELL-FISH.  237 

"When  dried  it  resembles  whalebone,  and  makes  a  very  nice  coach 
whip.  Our  bone  fish  are  very  similar  in  flavor  and  appearance 
to  the  northern  shad." 

Mr.  Sargeant  states,  that  the  dolphin,  king  fish,  Spanish 
mackerel,  bonita  and  rock  fish  weigh  from  fifty  to  one  hun- 
dred pounds,  and  that  the  jew  fish  often  weighs  six  hundred 
pounds.  Among  the  remaining  Bahama  fish,  he  mentions  the 
margate,  cat,  king,  Hamlet,  Miss  Isix,  grunt,  runner,  yellow  tail, 
snapper,  stripped  snapper,  gray  snapper,  pork,  soldier,  jack, 
goggle-eyed,  cockeye,  pilot,  mullet,  plate,  grouper,  shad,  goat, 
trumpeter,  sunset,  porgy,  sailor's  choice,  sand  j^orjioise,  balahoo, 
and  crawfish  or  lobster. 

The  shell-fish  found  in  the  Bahama  waters  harmonize  perfect- 
ly with  the  element  in  which  they  live,  and  with  all  the  varied 
forms  of  vegetable  and  animal  life  with  which  they  are  surrounded. 
Exquisitely  beautiful  are  they  all.  There  is  no  shock  to  the  most 
delicate  and  refined  taste  in  passing  from  corals  and  corallines  to 
the  fish  that  live  and  sport  in  the  stony  submarine  bowers  and 
grottoes, — and  from  gorgonias  and  algae  to  mollusks — all  are 
wonderfully  beautiful  in  form  and  color,  and  live  in  water  that 
pleases  by  its  warmth,  and  charms  by  the  sparkling  brilliancy  of 
its  hues.  These  combined,  constitute  exquisitely  pictured  leaves 
of  a  most  captivating  chapter  in  the  book  of  nature  which  God 
himself  has  illustrated.  The  perfection  of  the  work  will  not 
surprise  us  if  we  reflect  that  the  Artist  is  divine.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  there  are  not  less  than  four  thousand  different 
species  of  shell-fish  in  the  waters  of  the  Bahamas,  and  Mr.  Phelps 
claims  to  have  collected  of  the  shells  nearly  one  thousand.  The 
shores  abound  with  them,  and  they  seem  in  many  places  almost 
as  numerous  as  pebbles.  We  were  astonished  to  find  how  large 
a  number  of  handsome  specimens  we  Avere  able  to  collect  within 
a  small  circle  almost  anywhere  upon  the  shore  Avithout  changing 


238  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

our  position.  They  constitute  an  important  item  in  the  daily 
stock  in  trade  of  the  negroes  who  frequent  the  court  of  the  Royal 
Victoria  Hotel.  Excepting  the  conchs,  they  are  generally  of 
small  size  and  very  delicate.  No  lady,  and  very  few  gentlemen, 
leave  Nassau  without  securing  a  large  supply  for  home  use 
and  distribution,  and  they  constitute  when  away,  happy  re- 
minders of  amusing  scenes  in  the  hotel  court,  and  of  occasional 
rambles  upon  the  honey-combed  and  shell  strewn  shores  of  the 
islands  and  keys,  when  healthful  pleasures  filled  the  flying  hours. 
Large,  richly  but  darkly  colored  and  finely  polished  turtle  shells 
are  secured  by  many  at  a  cost  of  from  two  to  fifteen  or  twenty 
dollars  each. 

The  common  Conch,  [stronihus  gigas)  the  ''winged-shell,"  is 
by  far  the  most  valuable  shell-fish  of  the  Bahamas.  It  is  from 
six  to  twelve  inches  in  length,  and  weighs  from  one  to  five 
pounds.  It  weighs  from  four  to  sixteen  ounces  after  it  is  dressed. 
It  constitutes  an  important  article  of  diet,  and  its  shell  is  utilized 
in  various  ways.  The  conch  often  secretes  a  pearl  of  a  light  pink 
tint,  mottled  with  water  marks  and  having  much  the  appearance 
of  the  eggs  of  dragon  flies.  Many  persons  obtain  a  livelihood  by 
diving  for  conchs,  in  which  they  become  quite  expert;  some  di- 
vers, it  is  said,  being  able  to  thus  secure  them  in  water  ten  fath- 
oms (sixty  feet)  deep.  The  local  market  for  them  is  at  Nassau, 
where  they  are  carried  when  alive.  After  breaking  off  the  apex 
of  the  shell,  the  animal  is  taken  from  its  shell  and  first  examined 
for  pearls,  and  then  sold  for  food.  They  are  considered,  by  some, 
a  very  good  substitute  for  clams.  Some  are  eaten  raw,  and 
others  made  into  fritters.  They  are  generally  considered  pala- 
table, and  are  said  to  be  nutritious.  The  shells  are  used  in  the 
States  for  ornamenting  gardens,  and  in  Europe  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  cameos.     Lime  is  made  of  them  in  the  Bahamas. 

The  King  Conch  is  less  useful  than  the  strombus  gigas,  being 


12 


15 


fi^r-^f 


16 


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rt  tmertcTi  tru/rL  naiufs.  ■  ii:K.?iinaprsan4Cr!£7a!iu  hie 7 Haven, Lk. 

BIVALVE  SHELLS- 


OONCHS.      WHALES.  239 

chiefly  prized  for  its  beautiful  shell,  the  color  of  which  is  a  light 
cream  profusely  mottled  with  brown  umber  and  black.  Its  rarity 
and  beauty  secures  for  it  a  relatively  very  high  price. 

The  Queen  Conch  is  far  more  common  than  the  King  Conch, 
and  its  shell  is  larger  in  size  and  somewhat  smoother  in  outline. 
The  back  of  the  shell  is  pure  white,  and  the  tip  a  yellow  tint, 
v/hile  the  interior  is  a  dark  brown.  It  is  extensively  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  cameos. 

The  Ticist  Conch,  {triton  tritoius),  is  very  rare  and  always  com- 
mands from  visitors  a  high  price.  It  is  regular  in  form  and 
beautifully  mottled  with  brown  and  wine  colors.  Mr.  Phelps 
deems  it  unquestionably  the  most  exquisitely  beautiful  shell  of 
its  size  found  in  the  Bahamas. 

A  separate  volume  with  illustrations,  would  be  required  to  do 
anything  like  justice  to  the  small  mollusks  whose  shells  pave  and 
adorn  the  shores  of  the  Bahamas. 

Mr.  Bruce  in  the  work  from  which  we  have  already  quoted, 
published  nearly  a  century  and  a-half  ago,  expresses  the  opinion 
that,  *' a  beneficial  whale  fishery  might  be  established  here,  [in 
the  Bahamas,]  as  that  fish  comes  in  great  numbers  to  wean  their 
young  among  the  islands,  and  several  have  been  thrown  ashore 
full  of  spermaceti."  While  we  were  at  Port  Royal,  S.  C,  re- 
cently, we  learned  that  several  vessels  from  that  vicinity  are 
now  prosecuting  a  successful  business  in  capturing  whales  off 
that  coast.  Between  Nassau  and  Florida,  we  also  occasionally 
observed  specimens  of  that  great  mammal  of  the  ocean,  which 
has  done  so  much  to  dispel  the  darkness  of  the  civilized  portion 
of  the  world. 

In  taking  leave  of  the  Bahama  fishes,  so  far  as  unsatisfactory 
})rinted  descriptions  are  concerned,  it  is  a  consolation  to  know 
that  they  and  their  gorgeous  surroundings  will  continue  with  us 
through  life — for  memory  has  embalmed  them.     The  poet  sings 


240  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

of  flowers  "blushing  unseen,"  and  "wasting  their  fragrance  on 
the  desert  air,"  merely  because  they  are  not  enjoyed  by  man. 
This  is  an  exceedingly  contracted  view  to  take  of  the  matter, 
and  is  bottomed  upon  man's  egotism.  There  is  no  insect  how- 
ever small,  no  reptile  however  repulsive,  no  fish  in  any  brook  or 
sea,  no  animal  that  roams  in  pathless  woods,  and  no  bird  that 
disturbs  with  its  wings  or  songs  the  deepest  solitude  of  the  sea 
or  land,  that  does  not  find  much  which  its  nature  is  fitted  to 
enjoy  in  the  great  world  of  which  they  as  well  as  man,  form  an 
integral  part.  The  same  great  Father  made  all  and  provides  for 
all,  and  when  we  looked  into  the  coral  grottoes,  caves  and  bow- 
ers, and  saw  the  lavish  display  of  exquisitely  beautiful  forms  and 
colors  which  the  water  glass  reveals,  we  felt  that  it  was  no  more 
made  for  man  than  is  the  magnificence  of  the  celestial  world 
made  for  the  few  spirits  outside,  who,  perchance,  may  occasion- 
ally be  permitted,  with  or  without  eye  glasses,  to  look  at  the 
inner  glories  through  the  key-hole  of  heaven's  great  front  door. 

A  book  has  been  recently  published  in  England  by  Mr.  Higgins, 
entitled  "  Notes  by  a  Field  Naturalist."  The  author  spent  a  few 
days  in  Nassau,  visited  the  "  sea  garden,"  and  after  giving  some 
account  of  what  he  saw  there  and  in  its  vicinity,  he  adds — 

"At  last !  There  it  all  was,  even  as  the  great  naturalist  of 
H.  M.  S.  "Beagle"  had  said  more  than  thirty  j^ears  before,  'how 
be  it,  I  believed  not  the  words  until  I  came,  and  my  eye  had 
seen  it — and,  behold,  the  half  was  not  told.'  Description  is  not 
the  proper  vehicle  for  conveying  the  impressions  made  by  such 
a  spectacle.  If  the  description  be  full,  it  is  labored;  if  concise, 
it  is  nothing.     I  longed  for  the  power  of  putting  it  into  music." 

"There  is  no  doubt  that  tlio  ' garden '  is  a  thing  of  beauty, 
and  that  of  a  very  high  order." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Moonlight  and  Starlight  in  the  Bahama-f.  JVew  Heavens.  The  Orescent 
and  the  Cross.  TJie  Starry  Cross  of  Southern  Ski^s.  Midnight  Watehings, 
with  their  Be-s^dt'S. 

"  The  stars — they  are  the  poetry  of  heaven, 
And  in  their  bright  leaves  we  may  read  the  fate 
Of  men  and  empires." — Child  Haeold. 

"The  eye 
Breathed  on  by  fancy,  with  enlarged  sense 
Through  the  protracted  and  deep  hush  of  night, 
May  note  the  fairies,  coursing  the  lazy  hours 
In  various  changes,  and  without  fatigue; 
A  fickle  race,  who  tell  their  time  by  flowers, 
And  live  on  zephyrs,  and  have  stars  for  lamps, 
And  night  dews  for  ambrosia." — Sim;m8. 

We  found  in  the  Bahamas  not  only  a  new  earth,  but  the  canopy 
of  stars  at  night  was  in  some  respects  unlike  that  to  which  we 
had  been  accustomed.  Our  astronomical  knowledge  was  too 
limited  to  enable  us  to  indulge  in  a  roll  call  of  the  heavenly  hosts; 
but,  from  the  extreme  north,  old  stars  had  disappeared,  while 
others,  new  to  us,  with  seeming  modesty,  shone  with  a  subdued 
light  from  lowly  positions  in  the  southern  sky.  Planets  and 
great  central  suns  appeared  to  have  wandered  from  their  spheres, 
and,  with  renewed  fires,  brilliantly  gleamed  from  new  positions 
in  night's  blue  dome.  The  constellations  of  Orion  and  tlie  Great 
Bear  were,  with  a  few  others,  too  marked  in  their  individuality 

241  21 


fe43  ISLES  OF   SUMMER. 

not  to  be  readily  identified,  notwithstanding  their  changed  posi- 
tions and  the  increased  brilliancy  of  their  quenchless  fires.  The 
moon,  when  at  and  near  its  full,  mounted  almost  to  the  zenith, 
glorified  Nassau  as  she  lay  embowered  amid  trees  of  fadeless  ver- 
dure, imparted  to  the  long,  narrow,  encircling  islands  a  sort  of 
weird  and  unearthly  aspect,  and  illumined  with  dancing  light  the 
waters  of  the  harbor  and  of  the  more  distant  ocean. 

Among  the  stars  of  those  ''new  heavens,''  which  are  unknown 
to  the  northern  skies,  and  Avhich  we  especially  desired  to  see, 
were  those  composing  the  Souther'n  Cross.  Many  of  the  Moham- 
medans— the  followers  of  the  Crescent — discover  in  every  new 
moon  which  hallows  and  adorns  the  unfathomable  and  awe-in- 
spiring depths  of  ether,  a  divine  recognition  of  the  supernatural 
origin  of  their  religion,  and  are  more  confirmed  in  their  belief 
in  the  truthfulness  of  its  doctrines,  the  wisdom  of  its  precepts, 
and  the  sacredness  of  its  rights  and  ceremonials.  A  Christian 
may  be  pardoned  for  earnestly  desiring  to  see  with  his  own  eyes 
the  universally  recognized  symbol  of  the  religion  he  professes 
emblazoned  among  the  stars.  In  various  articles  of  personal 
adornment — on  sword  and  shield  and  scepter — in  the  form  and 
ridge  lines,  and  in  the  internal  and  external  embellishments  of 
the  largest  and  most  costly  churches — upon  altars,  sepulchres  and 
decorative  slabs — in  knightly  adornments,  kingly  crowns,  and 
imperial  diadems — and  upon  national  banners  proudly  floating 
over  the  land  and  sea.  The  Cross  has  symbolized  and  proclaimed 
a  widely  dominant  system  of  religious  belief  and  faith.  Christian 
voyagers  in  southern  seas  discovered  m  their  lonely  vigils  this 
characteristic,  significant  and  hallowed  emblem,  gleaming  with 
all  the  brilliancy  of  quenchless  fires,  in  those  distant  heavens,  and 
naturally  hailed  it  as  a  divine  token  that  from  the  world's  ''be- 
ginning," when  "the  morning  stars  sang  together,"  the  Great 
Creator  had  placed  upon  the  sky  tiiis  prophecy  and  endorsement 
of  the  dominant  religion  of  their  time  and  country. 


THE    SOUTHER X   CROSS.  24^ 

The  Southern  Cross  consists  of  four  stars,  and  their  relative 
positions,  when  seen  upon  the  meridian,  is  indicated  by  the  fol- 
lowing: » 


Were  the  upper  and  lower  stars  connected  by  a  straight  line, 
and  the  remaining  two  also  connected  by  a  straight  line,  the  form 
of  the  cross  would  be  apparent.  When,  in  looking  at  the  stars, 
this  symbolic  form  is  suggested  to  the  observer,  then  (as  in  the 
case  of  seeing  the  face  of  a  man  in  the  moon)  the  resemblance  is 
ever  afterwards  so  vividly  impressed  on  his  mind,  that  the  stars 
never  fail  to  remind  him  of  the  cross  whenever  he  sees  them  oc- 
cupying a  similar  position.  When  they  are  not  upon  the  merid- 
ian the  form  of  the  cross  is  not  revealed. 

Nassau  being  some  distance  north  of  the  equator,  the  star  gazer 
from  that  point  can  only  see  the  cross  when  the  stars  which  com- 
pose it  occupy  a  position  near  the  southern  horizon,  and  he  is 
(jonsequently  obliged  to  look  at  it  througli  a  large  extent  of  the 
earth's  atmosphere,  resting  so  near  to  the  laud  and  sea  as  to  be 
charged  with  their  vapors.  He  who  desires  to  see  at  Nassau  the 
Southern  Cross,  will  bo  more  likely  to  have  his  wishes  gratified 
if  he  makes  his  observations  from  some  elevated  position,  where 
the  air  is  particularly  clear  and  the  wind  is  blowing  with  some 
force  from  the  north. 

It  was  upon  a  favorable  evening  in  March,  1879,  that  on  going 


844  ISLES   OF   SUM^ilEE. 

to  bed,  we  imposed  npon  our  mind  the  task  of  waking  our  body 
up  a  little  before  midnight,  in  order  that  wo  might  make  an 
effort  to  see  this  beautiful  symbol  from  the  cupola  of  the  Royal 
Victoria  Hotel.  We  awoke  on  time,  and,  only  so  far  dressing  as 
to  meet  the  supposed  demands  of  the  invisible  spirits  of  the 
night,  we  made  our  way  through  long  corridors,  up  several 
flights  of  stairs,  and  into  the  profound  darkness  of  the  attic  of 
the  hotel,  where,  like  many  another  seeker  after  "the  light  of 
the  cross,"  we  groped  our  dubious  way.  Finally  a  faint  glimmer 
from  above  gave  us  hope,  and  after  ascending  another  flight  of 
stairs  we  emerged  into  a  spacious  glass  enclosed  observatory,  from 
the  inside  of  which  and  from  its  surrounding  gallery,  in  the  star- 
light and  moonlight,  we  watched  and  waited  for  the  cross.  Here 
and  there  above  the  southern  horizon,  a  few  scattered  stars  ap- 
peared for  a  few  moments  through  the  rifts  of  slowly  passing 
clouds,  while  a  thin  veil  of  mist  curtained  a  low  belt  of  sky  from 
view.  But  having  concluded  to  find  the  cross,  we  were  not  dis- 
couraged but  determined  to  persevere,  knowing  full  well  that 
though  for  the  time  unseen,  it  was  surely  there.  The  sea  air 
was  delightfully  cool,  and  we  seemed  more  than  ever  before  to 
realize  how 

"  Sweet  are  the  gentle  winds  at  night 

That  breathe  when  all  is  peaceful  'round, 
As  if  some  spirits  downy  flight 

Swept  silent  through  the  blue  profound." 

Below  us  the  city  of  Nassau,  with  its  low  diamond-shaped  roofs 
and  tropical  and  semi-tropical  trees,  was  clearly  and  beautifully 
revealed;  the  harbor  with  its  shipping  and  beacon  light,  was 
slightly  ruffled,  and  reflected  a  soft  and  silvery  radiance;  the 
barrier  islands  disclosed  their  picturesque  shores,  and  beyond 
their  low  but  verdant  summits,  the  Atlantic  seemed  soothed  and 


BEAUtY  OF  THfi  iTlftSf.  U8 

lulled  to  sleep  by  the  sweet  murmur  of  its  own  gentle  billows. 
Above  us  were  the  new  heavens  to  which  we  have  referred,  and 
in  the  resplendent  light  of  its  eternal  stars,  we  seemed  but  an 
atom  of  thought  in  the  boundless  and  magnificent  universe  of 
God.  Nor  could  we  banish  the  pleasant  thought  that  there  may 
be  a  deep  and  broad  basis  of  fact  in  the  mystic  dreams  and 
visions  of  the  poets  and  prophets  of  the  buried  ages,  whose  men- 
tal vision  discovered  not  only  in  all  the  surrounding  air,  but  also 
in  the  profound  depths  of  illimitable  space,  a  vast  universe  of 
spirits  viewless  as  tlie  wind  and  swift  as  the  sun-beams.  Amid 
the  chaotic  desolation  of  the  bleak  summit  of  Mount  Wasliing- 
ton,  with  a  piercing  cold  wind  blowing  at  the  rate  of  seventy 
miles  an  hour,  we  instinctively  look  earth-ward  for  fairies  and 
fairy  land,  spirits  and  spirit  land,  but  in  the  warm,  clear,  aro- 
matic air  of  the  summer  isles,  sporting  in  the  moonlight  and 
starlight,  or  lurking  in  the  soft  shadows,  it  is  easy  for  supersti- 
tion and  credulity  to  believe  in  the  existence  of  invisible  spirits 
whose  actual  presence  the  quickened  senses  seem  to  actually  per- 
ceive and  recognize. 

While  gazing  upward  at  the  magnificent  stellar  display,  the 
crushing  feeling  of  one's  utter  insignificance  was  somewhat  re- 
lieved by  the  comforting  thought  that  the  human  soul  was 
created  by  the  same  divine  power  that  filled  the  vast  dome  above 
us  with  its  brilliant  display  of  revolving  suns  and  systems  of 
worlds;  that  great  and  small  are  relative  terms  invented  and  used 
only  by  mortals;  and  that  an  indestructable  thread,  real  but  in- 
visible, connects  and  binds  all  to  each  other  and  to  God. 

If  this  is  so,  we  can  give  an  affirmative  answer  to  Wliittier's 
momentous  question — 

♦'  Thi«i  consoious  life,  is  it  the  same 
That  thrilla  the  universal  frame ?" 


S45  UfE^  rtr  st^ifMfiti. 

And  the  tmy  insects  hum,  the  song  of  the  feathered  minstrels, 
man's  hymn  of  praise  and  adoration,  and  the  music  of  the 
heavenly  spheres,  are  not  separate  and  discordant  sounds,  but 
one  harmonious  anthem,  or,  as  Longfellow  expresses  it: 

"And  the  poet,  faithful  and  far-seeing, 
Sees,  alilcc  iu  stars  and  flowers,  a  part 
Of  the  self-same  universal  being 

Which  is  throbbing  in  his  brain  and  heart." 

And  still  musing,  wondering,  watchful  and  appalled,  we  hope- 
fully waited  until  we  should  see  a  blue  banner  unfurled  above  the 
southern  horizon  glorified  and  emblazoned  with  the  gleaming 
and  quenchless  light  of  its  cross  of  stars.  NOr  did  we  long  wait 
in  vain,  for  one  star  after  another  emerged  from  behind  its  cur- 
tain of  vapor,  occasionally  again  disajipearing,  until  at  last  we 
had  tlie  great  gratification  of  seeing,  clear  and  indisputable, 
gleaming  at  that  still  midnight  hour,  above  the  earth's  great 
central  encircling  line,  from  the  unfathomable  depths  of  space, 
that  heavenly  sign  and  symbol  of  the  religion  of  the  most  ad- 
vanced civilization  of  modern  times — "The  SorTHERisr  Cross." 
Eeaching  at  last  the  meridian,  it  was  fully  and  completely  re- 
vealed in  all  its  fair  jiroportions,  a  beautiful  cross  of  stars! 

Soon  afterwards  we  retraced  our  steps,  entered  the  darkness 
and  gloom  of  the  attic  of  the  Eoyal  Victoria  Hotel,  descending 
long  staircases,  and  traverse'd  seemingly  interminable  corridors, 
but  the  mind  was  luminous  and  buoyant,  for  it  still  glowed  with 
the  light  of  that  starry  cross  in  the  sky.  Thus,  amid  the  doubt, 
darkness  and  gloom  of  the  world,  may  the  Christian  Cross  "tow- 
ering above  the  mists  of  time,"  as  a  true  and  faithful  type  of  a 
higher  life  in  this  world,  and  a  happier  life  in  the  world  "  over 
the  river,"  ever  cheer,  elevate  and  inspire  with  a  faith  that  never 
wavers  and  a  hope  that  is  ever  steadfast  and  enduring. 


CHAPTEK  XV. 

The  Coral  Isles  the  Home  of  Beautiful  Birds.  Their  Scarcity  in  Nassau, 
and  its  Causes.  The  Necessity  of  Legal  Enactments  to  Protect  the  Birds. 
The  Flamingo.  The  Bahama  Mocking  Bird.  A  Bri^f  Account  of  the  Visi- 
tant and  Resident  Birds  of  the  Balmmas. 

' '  The  birds,  gi'eat  nature's  happy  commoners, 

That  haunt  in  woods,  in  meads  and  flowery  gardens, 

Rifle  the  sweets,  and  taste  the  choicest  fruits, 

Yet  scorn  to  ask  the  lordly  owner's  leave." — Rowe. 

The  islands  and  keys  of  the  Bahamas  furnish  every  year,  for  a 
longer  or  shorter  period  of  time,  a  pleasant  and  appropriate  home 
for  a  great  variety  of  birds,  some  quite  rare,  and  many  very  beau- 
tiful. And  yet,  at  Nassau,  the  absence  of  bird  life  is  very  notice- 
able. Surrounded  by  perpetual  verdure,  and  inhaling  in  mid- 
winter the  softest  airs  of  a  northern  June,  Ave  naturally  expected 
to  be  awakened  at  day  break,  or  to  have  our  morning  dreams 
shaped  and  colored  by  the  rich  and  rare  music  of  feathered  song- 
sters. But  we  were  doomed  to  disappointment,  and  had  to  be 
satisfied  Avith  the  unmusical  vocalism  of  hungry  roosters. 

The  cities  of  Florida  in  this  respect  are  eminently  superior, 
and  upon  landing,  both  at  Fernandina  and  at  Jacksonville,  noth- 
ing impressed  us  more  than  the  bird  melody  Avith  Avhich  the  air 
resounded.  The  turkey  buzzard,  that  important  member  of  the 
Sanitary  Boards  of  our  Southern  cities,  performs  no  scaA-enger 
duties  at  Nassau.  Dr.  Bryant  states  that  it  is  abundant  upon 
the  islands  of  Andros,  Abaco,  and  Grand  Bahama,  and  he  at- 

347 


248  ISLES  OF   SUMMEE. 

tributes  its  absence  from  Nassau  to  the  fact  that  it  cannot  find 
there  its  appropriate  food,  as  the  bhicks  literally  devour  all  the 
offal  and  waste  of  slaughtered  animals,  Avhile  death  from  disease 
or  old  age  yields  very  meager  and  inadequate  supplies.  The 
buzzards  are  too  wise  and  sagacious  to  remain  in  a  place  so  poor 
and  healthy  as  not  to  furnish  them  with  a  decent  support,  and  the 
*' living"  which  "the  world  owes  "  them  they  seek  elsewhere. 

Many  birds  frequent  the  pathless  solitudes  of  the  interior  of 
the  island  of  New  Providence,  and  some  parts  of  its  shores  and 
Lake  Killarncy  abound  with  water  fowl. 

"We  have  no  doubt  the  absence  of  birds  from  Nassau  and  its  im- 
mediate vicinity,  is  the  result  of  a  persistent  and  long  continued 
war  upon  them  by  the  people.  For  sport,  for  food,  and  for  sale, 
they  have  been  killed  or  captured,  and  children  have  no  doubt 
thoughtlessly  and  wantonly  rifled  and  destroyed  their  nests.  To 
the  court  of  the  hotel  we  have  seen  young  fledglings  brought, 
and  money  paid  by  sympathetic  ladies  to  secure  their  release. 

Ilad  suitable  laws  been  made  and  enforced  for  the  protection 
of  the  birds  upon  the  island  of  New  Providence,  Nassau  and  its 
suburbs  would  present  a  new  and  very  attractive  source  of  en- 
joyment for  visitors  from  abroad,  hardly  second  to  any  for  which 
it  is  now  distinguished.  Nature  was  almost  as  bountiful  in 
giving  to  the  air  of  the  coral  isles  gay  and  beautiful  forms  of 
life,  as  she  has  been  to  the  waters  which  encircle  them.  But 
this  part  of  the  colonial  capital's  inheritance  of  beauty  and  mel- 
ody has  been  thoughtlessly  squandered.  Wise  legislation  may 
do  much  to  retrieve  the  loss,  and  to  cause  the  soft,  warm  air  to 
vibrate  as  in  the  olden  times,  with  the  rich  and  varied  melody  of 
tropical  birds.  The  orchards  with  waxen  leaves  and  golden  fruit, 
the  fadeless  foliage  of  shade  trees  and  forest,  and  the  thickets 
with  their  flowering  shrubs  and  climbing  vines,  belong  rightfully 
to  the  beautiful  birds.  For  their  benefit  they  were  in  part 
created,  and  their  possessory  title  is  older  than  that  of  man's. 


"^ 


"M$k^ 


J  H  Eruerton 


iith  Pundorson SlCt i sand /Ne'.v Haven, Gt 


FLAMINGO. 


The  FLAMIX60.  249 

A  large  and  finely  illustrated  volume  entitled  "  Birds  of  the 
Bahama  Islands,"  has,  during  the  present  year  [1880],  been  pub- 
lished in  Boston  by  its  author,  Mr.  Charles  B.  Corey.  It  contains 
the  fruits  of  his  own  personal  observations,  and  valuable  infor- 
mation derived  from  other  authors.  We  glean  from  it  most  of 
our  information  concerning  the  ornithology  of  the  islands. 

The  Flamingo,  for  the  size  and  brilliancy  of  its  plumage,  is 
most  remarkable.  To  be  appreciated  it  must  be  seen.  With  a 
small  delicate  neck  longer  than  its  body,  and  Avith  lean  and  lank 
legs  longer  than  its  neck,  it  stands  more  than  five  feet  high, 
dressed  entirely  in  scarlet,  and  with  lake-red  legs.  Most  of  its 
primaries  are  black,  as  is  also  the  terminal  half  of  its  bill;  the 
basil  half  of  the  lower  mandible  is  orange.  The  only  bird  of 
this  kind  which  we  saw  in  Nassau  w^as  tame,  and  was  kept  as 
an  unique  and  beautiful  curiosity.  Mounted  upon  stilts,  it  was 
quite  amusing  to  watch  it  stalk  around  among  feathered  creatures 
less  curiously  made  and  less  flashily  dressed,  and  still  more 
amusing  to  see  it  drink — which  feat  it  accomplishes  only  by 
turning  its  head  upside  down  so  as  to  use  the  beak  as  a  cup — 
a  feat  which  is  rendered  quite  easy  of  accomplishment  by  reason 
of  its  long  flexible  neck. 

Mr.  Corey  says: — "  This  beautiful  species  was  at  one  time  very 
abundant  throughout  the  Bahama  Islands,  but  of  late  years  they 
have  been  so  persecuted  by  the  inhabitants  that  at  the  j^resent 
time  they  are  to  be  found  in  any  numbers  only  upon  the  inland 
ponds  and  marshes  of  Inagua  and  Abaco;  they  are  gradually  dy- 
ing off,  or  seeking  some  more  inaccessible  locality  as  yet  undis- 
turbed by  the  presence  of  mankind,  and  in  all  probability,  with 
the  next  century  the  flamingo  will  be  unknown  in  the  Bahamas. 
The  inhabitants  find  their  breeding  places,  and  gather  hundi'cds 
of  their  eggs.  They  kill  great  numbers  of  the  young  birds  be- 
fore they  are  able  to  fly,  and  carry  away  nearly  as  many  alive  to 


260  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

sell  to  passing  vessels,  most  of  wliich  die  for  want  of  care.  They 
are  killed  by  hundreds  for  their  feathers,  and  thus  gradually 
their  ranks  are  being  thinned,  until  at  last  the  Flamingo,  like 
the  Dodo  and  Soltaire,  will  be  a  thing  of  the  j^ast.  *  *  *  * 
While  on  the  nest,  this  bird  sits  with  its  legs  hanging  down  on 
either  side,  and  it  presents  a  most  ludicrous  appearance." 

They  were  formerly  seen  in  immense  flocks,  and  Mr.  Sargeant 
states  that  one  flock  which  he  saw  numbered  five  thousand — but 
he  omitted  to  add  that  he  counted  them. 

Whether  seen  upon  the  beautiful  water  of  the  shallow  lakes 
and  mangrove  swamps,  or  among  the  green  leaves  of  a  tropical 
forest,  a  large  flock  of  flamingoes,  with  their  bright  scarlet  uni- 
forms, must  present  a  most  gorgeous  appearance. 

Mr,  Corey's  book  contains  a  "  General  Catalogue  of  the  Birds 
of  the  Bahamas,"  in  which  he  gives  the  names  of  one  hundred 
and  forty-nine  species.  Of  these,  all  but  twenty-flve  it  seems, 
are  also  found  in  the  United  States.  Some  are  limited  in  their 
range,  being  confined  to  certain  islands. 

THRUSHES. 

Plumbeous  Thrush,  (called  by  the  natives  Blue  Thrasher). 
This  bird  is  found  upon  Xcw  Providence  and  Abaco,  but  remains 
generally  concealed  in  thickets. 

Paw-paw  Thrush.     It  inhabits  Inagua. 

Little  Mocking  Bird.     It  is  a  common  resident  at  Inagua. 

Bahama  3focl-iug  Bird.  It  is  very  abundant  throughout  the 
year  in  the  Bahamas.  Dr.  Bryant  says:  "  On  those  keys  which 
are  barely  large  enough  for  ary  land  birds  to  inhabit  them,  this 
bird  is  sure  to  be  the  first  settler;  and  on  some  of  them,  as  Ship 
Channel  Keys  for  instance,  which  are  only  a  few  acres  in  extent, 
there  would  be  two  or  three  pairs,  each  occupying  its  own  domain, 
which  they  did  not  allow  to  be  invaded  by  the  others  without 


giving  battle  at  once.  It  was  singular  as  well  as  pleasing,  to 
lieur  on  one  of  these  lonely  and  almost  desert  keys,  this  graceful 
bird,  mounted  on  the  topmost  spray  ol  some  dwarf  shrub,  sing- 
ing with  as  much  fervor  and  satisfaction  as  if  surrounded  by 
listeners,  instead  of  having  for  sole  auditor  his  faithful  mate." 

Cat  Bird.     It  is  only  a  winter  visitor. 

Blue-gray  Gnat-catcher.  It  is  a  resident  of  the  Bahamas,  and 
Dr.  Bryant  found  it  abundant  at  Inagua. 

WARBLERS. 

The  Bhch  and  White  Creejyer  is  not  uncommon  during  the 
winter  u^iou  some  of  the  larger  islands.  It  searches  the  stems 
of  trees  for  insects,  like  the  Woodpecker. 

The  Blue  Ye'hnc-backed  Warbler  is  not  uncommon  during  the 
Avinter,  and  Mr.  Corey  found  it  among  the  small  trees  bordering 
the  road  at  Nassau. 

Tae  Worm  Eating  Warbler  was  seen  by  Mr.  N.  B.  Moore 
while  at  Nassau  in  November,  December  and  January. 

The  Dedroeca  Petechia.  This  Avarbler  Avas  not  uncommon  at 
Inagua  and  Long  Island  in  May  and  June. 

Gundloch^s  Warbler.  This  Avas  abundant  in  summer,  but  not 
seen  north  of  Long  Island. 

The  Yellow-rumpled  Warble7's  Avere  numerous  near  Nassau  m 
December  and  January.  It  is  tamo  and  pretty,  frequents  the 
heavy  growth,  and  is  recognized  by  the  yellow  on  the  rump. 

Black-2?oll  Warbler.  Dr.  Bryant  found  it  abundant  in  the 
Bahamas  from  the  1st  to  the  10th  of  May.  It  searches  the 
trunks  of  trees  for  insects. 

Chestnut-sided  Warbler.     Dr.  Bryant  saAV  a  fcAV  early  in  May. 

Black  and  Yellow  Warble".  Dr.  Bryant  thinks  it  as  abund- 
ant as  it  is  in  the  L^nited  States. 

Ca;pe  May  Warbler,    It  is  found  in  the  Bahamas  in  winter, 


S5^  IfeLES  Of  SUMMER. 

but  is  not  abundant.  On  the  2Gth  of  JaniTarv.  Mr.  Corey  saw 
several  in  the  trees  in  front  of  the  hotel. 

Prairie  Warbler.     Pretty  and  abundant. 

Yellow-throated  Warbler.  Common  in  winter.  It  frequents 
tall  trees — generally  the  pines. 

KirtlancVs  Warbler.     It  is  rare  and  prefers  the  thick  brush. 

Yellow  Red-poll  Warbler.  Pretty,  and  in  Avinter  abundant. 
It  runs  along  the  roads  and  in  low  brush, 

Pine-creejying  Warbler.  A  winter  visitant,  abundant  in  the 
pine  woods. 

Golden  Crovmed  Thrush.  It  prefers  the  thick  undergrowth. 
Dr.  Bryant  found  it  common  in  ISTassau  in  1866. 

Water  Thrush,  (local  name,  Xight  Walker).  It  jirofers  damp 
ground,  and  to  bo  surrounded  with  impenetrable  undergrowth, 
hence  rarely  seen,  although  a  regular  winter  visitant. 

Maryland  Yellow-throated  Warbler.  A  beautiful  ground 
warbler,  and  common  in  the  larger  islands.  Dr.  Bryant  saw  a 
flock  which  was  two  hours  constantly  flying  past  his  vessel,  though 
not  in  a  compact  body.  He  states  that  on  May  10th,  ''they 
were  still  abundant  in  the  neighborhood  of  Nassau." 

Greater  Yellow-throated  Warbler.  Local  and  rare.  All  the 
known  specimens  have  been  taken  upon  New  Providence. 

Redstart.     Abundant  in  winter  upon  the  larger  islands. 

CREEPERS. 

Bahama  Honey  Creepzr.  Pretty,  small  and  abundant  upon 
all  the  islands  visited  by  Mr.  Corey.  It  is  fond  of  the  honey  in 
the  blossom  of  the  leaf  of  life  (  Verea  Crenata),  which  it  obtains 
by  thrusting  its  bill  through  the  petals — according  to  Mr.  N.  B. 
Moore.  When  this  supply  fails,  it  devours  the  juice  and  pulp 
of  the  sour  orange,  and  the  small  insects  attracted  to  the  sour 
orange  trees,  according  to  Dr.  Bryant. 


Bahama  M^U.  253^ 

swallows. 

Hahama  Stcalloio.  Small  and  beautiful,  confined  to  these  is- 
lands; it  was  found  by  Mr.  Corey  abundant  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Nassau  in  June.  Dr.  Bryant  ''saw  them  during  the  whole 
of  his  stay  at  Nassau,  but  only  on  the  first  mile  of  the  road  lead- 
ing to  the  west  of  the  island.  They  were  so  abundant  there  that 
thirty  or  forty  could  be  seen  there  at  almost  all  times,"  skimming 
along  the  road  near  the  ground. 

White-bellied  Sicallow.  Seen  occasionally  during  stormy 
weather  at  Kassau. 

VIREOS. 

JBlack-whiskered  Vireo.     Very  abundant  after  May  1st. 

Common  Vireo.  Small  and  abundant  throughout  the  islands. 
It  is  a  resident,  and  Mr.  Corey  found  it  esi^ecially  common  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Nassau. 

FIKCHES. 

Purple  Grosbeak;  (local  name,  Spanish  Paroquet. )  It  is  abun- 
dant throughout  the  Bahamas,  is  very  retiring  in  its  habits,  and 
in  the  thick  undergrowth  its  peculiar  notes  are  heard.  Gosse 
says  that  at  the  extremity  of  an  immense  horizontal  limb  of  the 
silk  cotton,  or  some  other  gigantic  and  hoary  tree  in  the  forests 
of  Jamaica,  "  it  builds  a  nest  of  rude  materials,  as  large  as  a  half 
bushel  measure,  the  opening  being  near  the  bottom."  Dr.  Eobin- 
son,  (speaking  of  this  bird  as  we  suppose,)  says:  *'the  black 
bull-finch  builds  a  nest  as  big  as  a  blackbird's  cage,  and,  by  the 
artful  contrivance  of  this  little  volatile,  the  whole  has  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  heap  of  trash,  flung  on  the  bow  of  some  tree  as  if 
by  accident,  so  that  nobody  could  suppose  it  to  be  anything  else.  '* 
Those  which  Mr.  Corey  saw  showed  no  signs  of  a  purple  color. 


564  IStES  OP  St^fMfift. 

Black  Grosbeak;  (local  name,  Black  Charles.)  Mr.  Corey 
found  it  common  on  luagua  during  May  and  June. 

English  Sparrow.  It  is  said  to  have  been  introduced  into  the 
Bahamas  within  the  last  few  years. 

Nonpareil.  It  sports  blue,  green,  red,  black  and  brownish 
red  colors,  and  is  believed  to  be  only  an  occasional  visitor. 

Indigo  Bird.     Mr,  Moore  saw  it  in  Xassaii  in  November. 

Black-faced  Finch.  It  is  small,  domestic,  likes  human  society, 
and  is  abundant  everywhere. 

Bahama  Finch.  A  beautiful  bird  with  an  olive  green  jacket; 
is  abundant  upon  the  island  of  New  Providence,  and  "is  one  of 
the  first  birds  that  attracts  the  visitor's  attention,  on  account  of 
its  brilliant  coloration." 

STARLINGS. 

Bobolink.  Dr.  Bryant  saw  flocks  of  them  in  May.  They  were 
called  Rice  Birds. 

Red-winged  Blackbird.  A  common  winter  visitor,  and  perhaps 
a  resident.  Mr.  Corey  found  it  to  abound  about  the  ponds  on 
Andros  Island. 

FLY-CATCHERS. 

Gray  Fly-catcher.  An  abundant  summer  visitant,  and  perhaps 
a  resident.     It  is  common  south  of  New  Providence. 

Rufous-tailed  Fly-catcher.  A  resident,  but  less  abundant 
than  others  of  the  same  family. 

Least  Bahama  Fly-catcher.  Small  aiid  abundant  in  some 
localities. 

Bahama  Kingbird;  (local  name,  Fighter.)  A  constant  resi- 
dent and  abundant. 

Goat  Sucker;  (local  name,  Death  Bird.)  Not  common,  and 
rarely  seen  on  account  of  its  nocturnal  habits.     It  has  a  peculiar  . 


BAHAMA   BIRDS.  SSS' 

cry,  resembling  the  syllables  "chnck-wills-widoAv/'  and  remains 
concealed  during  the  day.  The  negroes  believe  that  whenever 
it  is  seen  a  person  in  the  vicinity  will  die  in  a  short  time. 

Little  Nighthmck;  (local  name,  Pirami-dmk.)  It  is  abun- 
dant, and  flics  swiftly  about  sun-set  in  search  of  insects.  It  does 
not  remain  during  the  winter. 

HUMMING  BIRDS. 

Bahama  TT^oof?s^r«7  (local  name,  Hummer.)  It  is  very  abun- 
dant in  the  neighborhood  of  Nassau. 

Ljre-tailed  Ilammbig  bird.  Like  many  others  of  its  family, 
it  is  restricted  to  a  single  island.     It  is  found  only  upon  Inagua. 

Micord's  Humming  bird.  Interesting  in  plumage  and  habits, 
it  prefers  the  vicinity  of  the  shore,  and  is  common  on  Andros 
Island.     Some  writers  suppose  it  confined  to  Cuba. 

Brace's  Humming  bird.    It  has  been  seen  near  Nassau. 

KINGFISHERS. 

Belted  Kingfisher.  It  is  common  in  the  winter,  generally  fre- 
quents small  lakes  and  ponds,  and  Mr.  Corey  always,  Avhen  visit- 
ing Lake  Cunningham,  near  Nassau,  saw  it  there. 

CUCKOOS. 

Bahama  Cuckoo.     Mr.  Corey  saw  one  near  Nassau. 

Yelloio- billed  Cuckoo.  Mr,  Brace  luis  taken  it  in  the  vicinity 
of  Nassau. 

Mangrove  Cuckoo.  Abundant  on  the  larger  islands,  and 
common  near  Nassau.  It  remains  through  the  year,  and  keepa 
concealed  in  the  thick  undergrowth. 

Ani;  (local  names,  Rain  Crow,  Blackbird)  A  very  abundant 
resident,  and  is  generally  in  flocks.     Abundant  around  Nassau. 


2S6'  "IstEs  6f  summer. 

WOODPECKERS. 

Mairy  Woodpecker.     Common  at  Nassau. 

Yellow-helUed  Woodpecker.     Abundant  near  Nassau  in  winter. 

PARROTS. 

Parrot,  Formerly  abundant  upon  the  islands;  now  common 
only  at  Inagua.  It  frequents  the  cornfields  in  large  numbers  in 
July. 

OWLS. 

Barn  Owl.     It  is  found  near  Nassau,  and  has  many  names. 
Florida  Burroicing  Owl.     Mr.  Brace  secured  one  at  Nassau. 

FALCONS. 

Marsh  Haxok,     An  occasional  visitor. 
Sharp-shinned  Hawk.     Seen  near  Nassau  sometimes. 
Peregrine  Falcon.     Not  common. 

Sparroio  Falcon.     Has  been  seen  at  Nassau,   and  at  Great 
Stirrup  Key. 
Ped-tailed  Hawk.    One  was  taken  at  Nassau,  and  one  at  Inagua, 
Fish  Hawk.    An  abundant  resident  in  the  Bahamas. 

VULTURES. 

Turkey  Buzzard;  (local  name,  Crow.)  Abundant  at  Andros, 
Abaco  and  Grand  Bahama. 

PIGEONS. 

White-headed  Pigeon.  Is  found  on  the  islands,  and  in  summer 
repairs  in  immense  flocks  to  the  outer  keys  to  breed. 

Zenaida  Dove;  (local  name,  Wood  Dove. )  A  beautiful  species; 
is  found  throughout  the  Bahamas,  but  is  not  very  abundant,  and 
does  not  collect  in  flocks. 


BAHAMA  BtRDS.  SSf 

Ground  Dove;  (local  name,  Tobacco  Dove.)  Very  tame, 
graceful  and  abimdant. 

Key  West  Dove.    Beautiful  and  abundant. 

PARTRIDGE. 

Partridge;  (local  name,  Quail.)     Numerous  near  Nassau. 

THE   PLOVERS. 

BlacJc-helUed  Plover.  A  regular  winter  visitant,  but  not  com- 
mon.    It  frequents  the  salt  marshes  and  beaches. 

Golden  Plover.  An  occasional  visitor,  and  frequents  the 
marshes. 

Klldeer  Plover.  An  abundant  winter  visitor,  frequenting  the 
fields  and  marshes. 

Wilsoyi's  Plover.  A  resident  and  abundant.  It  frequents  the 
long  open  beaches,  and  the  shores  of  suit  ponds. 

Ring-necked  Plover.     An  occasional  visitor. 

Piping  Plover.     Abundant  in  winter. 

OYSTER   CATCHERS,    ETC. 

Oyster  Catcher;  (local  name,  Sea  Pie.)  Rather  a  common 
resident.     Frequents  beaches  and  sand  bars. 

Turnstone.  Abundant  in  winter,  and  frequents  the  beaches. 
It  loses  in  winter  "the  varied  colors  of  its  nujstial  dress." 

STILTS. 

Stilt.  Abundant  as  summer  advances.  Its  trailing  legs  give 
it,  when  flying,  a  singular  appearance.  It  utters,  while  flying, 
loud,  sharp  notes. 

SNIPES. 

WiUon's  Snipe.     Abundant  in  some  localities  in  winter. 


!S5&  ISLfii  6f  SUMMEfi. 

Red-hreasted  Snipe.  Mr.  Corey  found  three  specimens  upon 
Inagua  in  May. 

Semi-palmated  Sandpiper.     An  abundant  winter  resident. 

Least  Sandpiper.  One  of  the  most  abundant  winter  visitants. 
Very  social,  and  found  in  flocks  on  open  beaches. 

White-rumpled  Sandpiper.  A  regular  winter  visitor,  but  not 
common. 

Sanderling.  A  rather  scarce  winter  visitant.  It  frequents 
beaches  and  soft  marshes. 

Willet.     Abundant  on  many  of  the  islands. 

Greater  Yelloio-leg.     ISTot  uncommon  in  winter. 

SPOOXBILLS. 

Spoonbills.  Curious,  gaily  colored,  beautiful  and  abundant  at 
Inagua. 

HERONS. 

G)'eat  Blue  Heron,  (local  name,  Ar snicker).  Frequently  met 
with  on  the  beaches,  or  in  the  small  inland  ponds. 

Inagua  Heron.  Very  abundant  in  Inagua  in  Summer.  They 
breed  in  large  communities. 

Reddish  Ejret.  A  resident,  and  much  more  abundant  than 
any  other  species  of  its  family. 

Little  Blue  Heron.     Abundant  in  winter. 

Green  Heron.     An  abundant  resident,  frequenting  marshes. 

Yelloxo-cr owned  Night  Heron.  Very  abundant  throughout  the 
Bahamas. 

Least  Bittern.  A  rare  visitant.  It  has  been  taken  at  Lake 
Cunningham. 

RAILS,    ETC. 

Clapper  Rail,     Claimed  for  the  Bahamas  by  Dr.  Bryant, 


BAHAMA  Ifelftt)*.  ^^69 

Carolina  Rail     A  regular  winter  visitant;  not  abundant. 

Florida  Gallinule.  Resident  and  abundant  when  Dr.  Bryant 
wrote.     Mr.  Corey  could  not  find  it. 

Purple  Gallinule.     Dr.  Bryant  saw  but  one  specimen. 

Coot.  Some  remain  all  summer;  large  numbers  arrive  in  the 
winter  from  the  United  States.  They  annoy  the  sportsmen,  be- 
cause they  frighten  away  more  desirable  game  by  their  incessant 
clamor. 

DUCKS. 

Tree  Buck.  A  not  uncommon  resident  on  some  of  the  larger 
islands.     It  frequents  the  mangrove  ponds. 

Bahama  Duck.  A  small,  pretty  species,  which  Mr.  Corey 
found  frequenting  the  large  salt  ponds  of  Inagua. 

Blue  winged  T^al.  A  winter  visitant,  beautifully  adorned 
with  finely  colored  plumage.  It  is  abundant  upon  several  of  the 
larger  islands,  and  frequents  the  ponds  in  flocks. 

Green-vnnged  Teal.  It  is  common  during  the  winter,  and  is 
sometimes  seen  upon  Lake  Cunningham, 

Lesser  Black-headed  Buck.     It  visits  the  lakes  in  winter. 

Ring-necked  Duck.  It  is  abundant  in  winter,  and  is  sometimes 
seen  in  flocks  with  other  species. 

Red-headed  Duck.  A  winter  visitant,  and  is  abundant  upon 
the  New  Providence  lakes. 

Ruddy  Duck.  A  winter  visitant.  It  is  abundant  in  the  lakes 
near  Nassau.  It  is  an  expert  diver,  and  will  swim  under  water 
to  a  hiding  place  in  time  of  danger. 

GANNETS. 

Booby  Gannet.  About  the  1st  of  February  birds  of  this  species 
repair  to  desolate,  uninhabited,  unfrequented  places  to  breed, 
^mall  keys  of  a  few  acres  in  extent,  some  lying  so  low  that  they 


260  ISLES  OV  SUMMER. 

are  washed  by  the  waves  during  severe  storms,  are,  during  the 
breeding  season,  literally  covered  with  them,  of  all  ages,  but 
mostly  young.  At  such  times  the  old  birds  manifest  little  dis- 
position to  get  out  of  the  way  of  intruders,  but  will  make  savage 
attacks  with  their  powerful  bills  if  too  closely  approached.  They 
are  very  quarrelsome,  and  make  frequent  malicious  attacks  upon 
each  other.  Dr.  Bryant  says  it  is  the  most  expert  diver  of  any 
birds  with  which  he  is  acquainted. 
There  is  also  another  species,  lighter  colored. 

PELICANS. 

Broion  Pelican.  A  resident,  and  breeds  in  great  numbers  on 
some  of  the  islands.  A  tame  one  at  Nassau  exhibited  more  in- 
telligence than  Mr.  Corey  supposed  this  bird  possessed.  It  went 
to  the  fish  market  every  morning,  and  helped  itself  to  fish  when- 
ever it  could  elude  the  owner's  vigilance.  On  one  occasion  it 
made  known  its  Avants,  and  secured  the  services  of  Mr.  Corey 
when  it  wished  to  enter  the  closed  gate  of  its  owner,  by  "  tuggiirg 
at  his  trousers  with  its  bill,"  while  Mr.  Corey  was  passing. 

CORMORANTS. 

Florida  Cormorant.  An  abundant  species.  "  Nothing  could 
tempt"  one  which  Mr.  Corey  had  "to  eat  a  fish  which  had  been 
dead  over  night." 

FAM.    TACHYPETID. 

Man-of-  War  Bird,  sometimes  called  Frigate.  It  frequents 
all  the  Bahama  islands,  and  remains  during  the  year.  Dr.  Bryant 
visited  some  of  their  breeding  places,  the  largest  of  which  was 
upon  one  of  the  Ragged  Island  Keys,  and  was  five  or  six  acres  in 
extent.     He  says:  **The  nests,  thickly  crowded  together,  wereJ 


,     BAHAMA   BIRDS.  261 

placed  on  the  tops  of  prickly  pears,  which  covered  the  ground 
with  an  almost  impenetrable  thicket.  *  *  *  j  j^.-^yg  visited 
the  breeding  places  of  many  sea  birds  before,  and  some  well  worth 
the  trouble,  but  none  so  interesting  to  me  as  this.  It  was  a  most 
singular  spectacle;  thousands  and  thousands  of  these  great,  and 
ordinarily  wild  birds,  covered  the  whole  surface  of  the  i^rickly 
pears  as  they  sat  on  their  nests,  or  darkened  the  air  as  they 
hovered  over  them,  so  tame  that  they  would  hardly  move  on 
being  touched.  *  *  *  Incubation  is  carried  on  by  both  male 
and  females.  *  *  *  Its  food  is  principally  derived  from  the 
Booby,  whom  they  rob  as  the  Bald  Eagle  does  the  Fish  Hawk. 
Why  the  Booby  should  submit  to  this,  being  much  more  power- 
ful, and  armed  with  a  most  formidable  bill,  is  strange."  He 
watched  them  for  hours,  but  never  saw  them  catch  a  fish.  "While 
quite  tame  during  the  breeding  season,  it  is  shy  and  suspicious 
at  other  times. 

TROPIC   BIRDS. 

Tropic  Bird.  It  is  called  by  the  inhabitants  Egg  Bird.  An 
"elegant  and  graceful  species,  and  in  summer  abundant.  Its 
flight  is  hurried  and  rapid,  resembling  that  of  the  duck  more 
than  that  of  the  gull.  They  closely  resemble  the  Terns  in  their 
habits  and  appearance. "  Mr.  Bryant  says  that  they  breed  in  holes 
in  the  horizontal  and  perpendicular  surfaces  of  the  rock,  which 
are  often  so  winding  that,  though  their  harsh  notes  can  be  heard, 
they  can  only  be  procured  by  demolishing  the  rock. 

GULLS,    TERNS. 

Lmigliing  Gxdl.  It  is  abundant  throughout  the  Bahamas 
after  April.  About  the  time  the  Avinter  visitors  leave  Nassau,  it 
may  be  daily  seen  in  Kassau  harbor. 


562  ISLES   OF    SUilMER. 

JBonaparte^s  Gull.     Probably  an  occasional  visitor. 

Gill-billed  Tern.  Common  in  summer  upon  the  southern 
islands. 

Royal  Tern.  Abundant  throughout  the  Bahamas,  and  dis- 
tinguished for  its  large  size. 

Sandwich  Tern.  An  interesting  species,  occasionally  found  in 
summer.  Mr.  Corey  found  them  quite  abundant  during  the 
latter  part  of  May,  at  Bird  Rock,  Acklin  Island.  He  adds  that 
their  flight  is  strong  and  very  graceful,  and  that  they  dive  and 
fish  with  great  dexterity. 

Common  Tern.     Probably  rather  uncommon  in  the  Bahamas. 

Roseate  Tern.  A  beautiful,  regular  summer  visitant,  but  not 
abundant.     The  adult  male  has  a  showy  rose-colored  breast. 

Least  Tern.  Common  in  the  southern  islands  in  summer.  It 
breeds  in  large  flocks. 

Sooty  Tern.  They  frequent  in  large  numbers  the  reefs  and 
small  islands. 

Bridled  Tern.  Mr.  Corey  found  it  abundant  at  Long  Island 
during  June. 

Noddy  Tern.  During  the  summer  mouths  immense  numbers 
repair  to  the  reefs  and  small  islands  to  breed. 

PETRELS. 

Wilson^s  Petrel.     Abundant  a  short  distant  off  the  coast. 

Dusky  ShearvKiter.  An  abundant  resident,  and  very  shy.  It 
remains  far  out  at  sea  during  the  day,  often  in  large  flocks,  and 
does  not  return  to  the  land  until  the  darkness  prevents  it  from 
being  distinguished.  Mr.  Corey  says:  "that  all  night  long  their 
mournful  cries  can  be  heard,  but  that  long  before  dawn  they  are 
off  again."  They  breed  in  holes  or  under  projecting  portions  of 
the  rock,  seldom  more  than  a  foot  from  the  surface.  Dr.  Bryant 
says,  "  Why  these  birds  and  the  stormy  petrels  never  enter  or 


BAHAMA   BIRDS.  26S 

leave  their  holes  in  the  daytime,  is  one  of  the  mysteries  of  nature, 
both  of  them  feeding  and  flying  all  day,  are  yet  never  seen  in  the 
vicinity  of  their  breeding  places  before  dark.  When  anchored 
in  the  night-time  near  one  of  the  keys  on  which  they  breed,  their 
mournful  note  can  be  heard  at  all  hours  of  the  night.  During 
the  day  they  may  be  seen  feeding  in  large  flocks,  generally  out 
of  sight  of  land.  They  do  not  fly  round  much,  but  remain  most 
of  the  time  quiet  upon  the  surface  of  the  water.  I  did  not  see 
one  on  the  banks,  and  never  saw  them  dive  or  apparently  catch- 
ing any  fish,  though  they  are  often  in  company  with  Boobies  and, 
different  species  of  Terns,  all  of  which  are  actively  employed  in 
fishing.  About  half  way  from  Andros  to  the  Bank,  I  saw  on 
the  26th  of  April  a  flock  of  Boobies,  Sooty  Terns,  Noddies, 
Cabot's  Terns,  and  the  Dusky  Petrel,  that  covered  the  surface 
of  the  water,  or  hovered  over  it  for  an  extent  of  at  least  a  square 
mile.  Their  number  must  be  enormous."  The  inhabitants 
call  it  Pemhlico. 


GREBES. 

St.  Domingo  Grebe.  A  pretty  little  resident,  which  prefers 
the  dark  recesses  of  the  mangrove  swamps,  and  is  not  uncommon 
upon  Andros  and  some  other  islands. 

Mr.  Corey  states  that  "  the  small  keys  which,  during  the  win- 
ter present  a  desolate  appearance,  in  the  summer  season  teem 
with  bird  life;  thousands  of  Terns  of  different  species  repair  to 
these  deserted  spots  to  breed,  and  their  eggs  might  be  gathered 
by  the  barrelful,  as  the  rocks  and  sand  are,  in  places,  almost  cov- 
ered  with  them." 

For  tlie  benefit  of  any  of  our  readers  whose  love  for  the  birds 
may  incline  them  to  visit  the  Bahamas  in  the  summer  season, 
we  ought  perhaps  to  udd  that  Mr.  Corey  says:  that  "the  south- 


t^i  ISLES   OF   SrMMER. 

ern  islands  are  almost  tininhabitable  by  reason  of  the  myriad  of 
insects  by  which  they  are  infested."  Even  the  horses,  according 
to  the  testimony  of  the  inhabitants,  are  sometimes  killed  by 
them.  Several  of  the  islands,  Mr.  Corey  thinks,  have  never  as 
yet  been  by  any  naturalist  fully  ex^Dlored. 

"We  are  happy  to  recommend  Mr.  Corey's  "  Birds  of  the  Bahama 
Islands  "  to  all  desiring  extended  and  i^articular  information  con- 
cerning the  subject  matter  of  this  chapter. 

We  cannot  close  this  chapter  without  again  respectfully  sug- 
gesting to  the  people  of  Nassau  the  very  great  importance  of 
securing  the  enactment  and  enforcement  of  such  wise  laws  as 
will  secure  the  return  of  the  birds  of  the  Bahamas  to  their  woods 
and  waters,  and  to  their  gardens  and  orchards. 

The  Mallard  was  omitted  by  mistake  from  the  account  of  the 
ducks  of  the  Bahamas  on  page  259.  It  is  of  a  large  size,  and 
has  a  glossy  green  head.  A  white  ring  encircles  the  lower  part 
of  its  neck;  its  breast  is  of  a  purple  chestnut  color,  and  its  wings 
are  tipped  with  white  and  black.  It  is  a  regular  winter  visitant, 
and  frequents  the  lakes  and  ponds.  Audibon  says:  *'its  progress 
through  the  air  I  thought  might  be  estimated  at  a  mile  a  minute, 
and  I  feel  confident  that  when  at  full  speed,  and  on  a  long  jour- 
ney, they  can  fly  at  the  rate  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles  an 
hour." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Tnfliience  of  the  British  Court  and  Aristocracy  upon  the  People  of 
Nassau.  The  Landing  of  Prince  Alfred  upon  the  Island  of  New  Providence. 
Nassau  and  the  British  Govsrnmsnt  During  the  Late  War  of  the  Bebellion. 
Blockads  Running.  Nassau  Practically  a  Confederate  Port.  International 
Laws  Construed  and  Enforced  so  as  to  Greatly  Damage  the  United  States. 
Fortunes  Rapidly  Mads,  Squandered  and  Lost.  Wild  Excitement  and  Great 
Dissipation.     Great  Increase  of  Disease  and  Crime  in  Nassau. 

''No  voice  of  friendlj^  salutation  cheered  us, 
None  wish'd  our  arms  might  thrive,  or  bade  God  speed  us." — Rowe. 

As  the  child  apes  the  man,  so  the  practices  and  sentiments  of 
the  court  and  aristocratic  circles  of  Great  Britain  give  tone  and 
character  to  society  in  the  dependencies  of  the  British  crown  in 
all  the  ends  and  corners  of  the  earth.  In  Nassau,  English  in- 
fluences dominate,  although  from  the  geographical  position  of 
the  Bahamas,  and  the  natural  course  of  trade,  they  are  commer- 
cially more  closely  allied  to  the  United  States.  As  the  home 
government  retains  and  exercises  the  power  of  filling  the  high 
executive  and  judicial  offices,  and  has  the  ultimate  and  deciding 
voice  in  all  important  legislative  and.  judicial  matters,  a  great 
check  exists  against  the  growth  of  a  natural  sentiment  in  favor, 
of  political  independence,  and  free  institutions.  Much  is  done 
in  the  Bahamas  to  foster,  keep  alive  and  deepen  the  feeling  of 
reverence  for  and  true  allegiance  to  the  Queen,  her  family  and 
her  government.  The  landing  of  Prince  Alfred  upon  the  island 
of  New  Providence,  upon  the  3d  day  of  December,  A.  D.  1861, 

205  23 


^66  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

caused  the  3d  day  of  December  in  all  future  years,  to  be  declared 
a  public  holiday.  The  flight  of  stone  steps  which  lead,  from  the 
harbor  to  Kawson's  Square,  upon  which  on  that  occasion  he  first 
stepped,  were  called  by  his  name  on  account  of  that  auspicious 
event,  and  thus  keep  him  in  perjDctual  remembrance.  Not  that 
Alfred  had  developed  great  genius,  or  purchased  fame  by  his 
attainments  and  exploits;  not  that  the  soft  balmy  air  of  those 
coral  isles  had  vibrated  with  a  single  great  thought  from  his  royal 
lips  that  would  be  heard  in  future  times;  not  that  from  his  pen 

"A  small  drop  of  ink,  falling  like  dew  upon  a  thought, 
Had  made  thousands,  much  less  millions,  think;" 

not  that  he  had  lightened  the  heavy  burden  of  a  single  tax,  or  sug- 
gested administrative  or  governmental  reforms,  or  caused  any  of 
the  wild  and  now  waste  crown  lands  of  the  islands  to  be  conveyed 
to  their  landless  poor — but,  being  a  prince,  it  was  a  crowning 
glory,  an  event  never  to  be  forgotten  in  the  coming  years  and 
distant  ages,  that  he  had  actually  gone  ashore  at  Nassau.  By 
reason  of  his  royal  blood,  his  mere  foot-fall  has  left  a  permanent 
impress  upon  Bahama  history,  like  the  fossil  tracks  of  great  an- 
imals upon  sandy  shores  in  pre-historic  times.  We  trust  that 
we  entertain  a  proper  respect  for  Prince  Alfred,  both  on  his  own 
account  and  on  account  of  his  parents,  whose  virtues  are  sufiQcient 
to  make  them  illustrious,  but  to  make  the  day  of  his  landing  a 
^eat  historic  event  because  of  his  blood,  looks  very  much  like 
an  effort  on  the  i-)art  of  somebody  to  purchase  favor  at  the  court 
of  the  Queen.  There  is  a  day  in  the  history  of  the  Bahamas 
•which  the  outside  world  will  keep  in  perpetual  remembrance — 
the  day  upon  which  the  Old  World  first  had  an  introduction  to 
the  New.  No  column,  obelisk  or  temple,  is  seen  upon  Watlin's 
island,  Avhere,  as  we  believe,  Columbus  first  landed,  knelt,  and 
gave  thanks  to  God.     No  public  recognition  of  that  event  has 


NASSAU  AKD  THE   BLOCKADE   Hr^^NEES.  267 

been  made  by  the  Bahama  government,  and  we  doubt  if  many 
of  the  islanders  know  where  it  occurred — but  they  will  not 
be  permitted  to  forget  the  day  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  born, 
nor  the  time  his  sailor-boy  brother  first  trod  the  white  lime- 
stone streets  of  their  little  colonial  capital.  This  is  the  result, 
no  doubt,  of  governmental  policy.  Distance — the  mists  of  space 
— impress  the  African  mind,  and  Victoria's  golden  crown,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  broad  Atlantic,  reflects  a  mystic  light,  like  that 
of  "the  great  white  throne "  beyond  the  limits  of  time.  The 
nearness  of  the  Bahamas  to  the  United  States — the  intervening 
waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Florida  being  to  some  extent  spanned  by 
a  bridge  of  ocean  steamers — tends  more  and  more  to  strongly 
bind  them  to  the  States  by  the  strong  tics  of  commercial  inter- 
course. At  least  a  hundred  Americans  visit  those  islands  for  a 
longer  or  shorter  time,  to  one  Englishman,  and  republican  in- 
fluences, if  not  studiously  counteracted,  Avould  soon  predominate. 

The  British  ministi-y  and  aristocracy  during  the  late  civil  vrur 
in  the  United  States,  from  political  and  commercial  considera- 
tions, openly  and  heartily  sympathized  with  the  South,  and  great- 
ly prolonged  the  war  by  the  aid  and  comfort  they  rendered  the 
would-be  founders  of  a  great  slave-holding  oligarchy.  Nassau 
practically  became  a  most  important  naval  station  and  depot  of 
supplies  for  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

Under  the  friendly  flag  of  Great  Britain,  secessionists  and 
oJockade  runners  held  high  carnival  upon  the  "Isle  of  June." 
Commanding,  as  A^'ew  Providence  to  a  limited  extent  does,  our 
South  Atlantic  coast,  the  approaches  to  the  West  India  Islands, 
and  the  entrance  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  Nassau  is  very  favorably 
situated  to  do  great  damage  to  our  commercial  marine  in  time 
of  war;  and  the  Confederates,  with  the  British  government  and 
aristocracy  on  their  side,  were  not  tardy  in  availing  themselves  of 
its   advantages.     The  wildest  excitement  prevailed.     Steamers 


S68  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

and  sailing  vessels,  built  for  speed,  were  constantly  arriving  and 
departing.  King  Cotton  was  enthroned  at  Kassau  and  upon 
Hog  Island.  The  cotton  famine  districts  of  England,  and  the 
destitute  armies  of  the  South,  alike  looked  to  Nassau  for  mate- 
rial assistance.  Brave,  daring  and  dashing  men  in  gray  were  the 
lions  of  the  day,  and  were  courted  and  feted  by  the  high  digni- 
taries of  Church  and  State  in  this  miniature  seat  of  royal  and 
sacerdotal  pomp  and  power.  Fortunes  Avere  rapidly  made,  and 
the  Bahama  treasury  overflowed  with  gold,  which  came  in  rich 
streams  from  its  custom  house.  All  the  Bahama  negroes  who 
had  anything  to  sell  were  made  happy.  The  crumbs  from  the 
Confederate  tables  that  dropped  uj^on  Capt.  Sampson  and  his 
fellow  boatmen,  are  vividly  remembered  to  this  day,  and  it  is 
very  amusing  to  hear  Sampson,  in  his  graphic  way,  while  his 
yacht  is  bounding  over  the  billows,  describe  the  golden  but  now 
departed  days  of  Nassau  during  the  war.  The  Bahama  govern- 
ment was  soon  enabled  to  wipe  out  its  debt  of  £47,786  (over 
S238,000).  The  Eoyal  Victoria  Hotel,  for  the  erection  of  which 
the  Bahama  legislature  made  an  appropriation  in  the  year  1859 
of  only  £6,000,  that  valetudinarians  might  be  suitably  accommo- 
dated in  Nassau,  was  elaboi-ately  and  expensively  finished  in 
the  early  part  of  our  late  war,  at  a  total  cost  of  over  8100,000, 
and  the  Nassau  people  were  in  consequence  enabled  to  sumptu- 
ously entertain  their  Southern  friends — the  daring  and  dashing 
wearers  of  the  gray.  Gov.  Eawson  states  in  his  olEEcial  report 
accompanying  the  Blue  Book  of  the  Colony  for  the  year  1864, 
that  the  hotel  cost  "  up  to  the  close  of  1864,  £19,804."  As  the 
appropriation  for  the  hotel  in  1859,  was  only  £6,000  it  is  proba- 
ble that  the  tide  of  wealth  Avhich  in  consequence  of  our  war, 
filled  to  overflowing  the  coffers  of  the  colonial  treasury,  led  to 
the  erection  of  a  more  elaborate  and  expensive  building,  that  the 
Confederates  and  blockade  runners  might  be  suitably  entertained. 


KASSAU  A  CONFEDERATE   POET.  ^60 

Indeed,  Gov.  Rawson  says,  that  ''without  such  an  establishment 
it  would  have  been  almost  impossible  to  have  provided  for  the 
indux  of  persons  connected  with  the  blockade  trade."  But  alas! 
how  unstable  are  human  hopes!  How  speedily  the  shadows  suc- 
ceed to  the  sunlif^ht!  Changes  great  and  unexpected  thwart 
*■'  the  best  laid  schemes  of  mice  and  men." 

A  few  short  and  fleeting  years  since  then  have  passed,  and  the 
bold,  rich  and  dashing  Confederates  are  there  nowhere  to  be  seen, 
but  in  their  places  come  the  once  hated  Northerners,  including 
not  a  few  Yankees  from  troublesome  IS'ew  England,  to  repose  in 
the  pleasant  chambers,  and  feast  in  the  banquet  hall  of  the  Royal 
Victoria  Hotel,  so  lately  honored  by  the  advocates  and  champions 
of  "the  lost  cause."  The  Great  Republic  meanwhile  rises  with 
new  strength  and  vigor  from  its  baptism  of  blood,  far  more  for- 
midable than  it  ever  was  before  as  a  rival  in  peace  and  an  enemy 
in  war. 

Blockade  running  culminated  in  1864:  and  the  early  part  of 
18C5.  The  imports  of  Nassau  in  1860  were  in  value  only  £234,029 
and  its  exports  £157,350,  but  the  imports  in  1864  were  of  the  value 
of  £5,346,112  and  the  exports  £4,672,398.  In  January  and  Feb- 
ruary 1865,  twenty  steamers  ran  the  blockade,  and  landed  at 
Nassau  14,182  bales  of  cotton,  which  were  of  the  total  value  of 
two  and  three-quarters  million  of  dollars.  Every  one  was  wild 
with  excitement.  Fortunes  were  made  in  a  few  weeks  or  months. 
Gold  eagles,  and  twenty  dollar  gold  pieces  were  pitched  instead 
of  pennies,  by  fickle  fortune's  new  favorites,  in  the  Court  of  the 
Royal  Victoria  Hotel.  Money  was  spent  and  scattered  in  the 
most  extravagant  and  lavish  manner;  and,  as  a  natural  conse- 
quence, immorality  and  crime  affected  the  moral  atmosphere, 
and  disease  nestled  and  watched  for  its  victims  in  the  soft  and 
balmy  air  of  this  great  natural  sanitarium. 

In  these  calm  and  peaceful  days  a  vivid  imagination  will  find 


370  Isles  of  summek.. 

itself  impotent  to  conceive  the  extent  of  the  dissipation,  the  prof- 
ligate waste,  the  mad  revel  and  riot,  and  the  wild  frenzy  and 
delirium  which  everywhere  prevailed.  What  a  contrast  they 
afforded  to  the  mild,  soft  and  lambent  air, — the  clear,  placid  and 
beautiful  waters, — the  calm  and  quiet  majesty  of  heaven's  blue 
dome, — and  the  fairy  bowers  with  their  flowers  and  unfading 
verdure,  which  characterize  this  favored  part  of  the  New  World  ! 
But  like  the  occasional  great  tidal  waves  of  the  ocean,  which  after 
they  subside  leave  little  but  wreck  and  ruin  upon  the  shores  which 
they  visit — when,  soon  after,  the  Confederacy  collapsed,  and  only 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  fluttered  in  a  free  air  over  all  the  recently 
dissevered  States,  silence  resumed  its  reign  in  the  streets  of  Nas- 
sau, and  much  that  existed,  in  the  shape  of  fixed  capital,  was 
turned  into  a  ruin  by  the  great  hurricane  of  186G.  A  lasting 
monument  was  erected  to  commemorate  and  keep  alive  the  mem- 
ory of  those  days,  which  every  inhabitant  of  these  islands  sees  and 
feels,  in  the  form  of  a  colonial  debt  of  over  a  quarter  of  a  million 
of  dollars. 

If  the  American  eagle  and  the  British  lion  hereafter  quarrel, 
we  recommend  the  former,  (in  settlement  of  accounts),  to  make 
a  breakfast  of  the  Bahamas  some  pleasant  morning, — saving  their 
insignia  of  royalty  for  our  Pcabody  Museums. 

Two  rules  were  adopted  by  the  English  government  during 
the  war,  which  operated  (as  it  was  well  known  at  the  time  that 
they  would,  and  as  it  was  designed  that  they  should,)  A^ery  much 
to  the  benefit  of  the  Confederates,  and  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
United  States  government.  One  provided  that  if  there  was  a 
Confederate  vessel  and  also  a  Union  vessel  in  a  British  port,  and 
one  sailed  out  first,  the  other  should  not  leave  until  twenty -four 
hours  had  elapsed.  Now,  as  our  vessels  of  Avar  were  always  the 
pursuing  party,  the  rule  greatly  and  exclusively  aided  the  South. 
To  put  it  mildly,  this  was  unfriendly  conduct,  and  had  for  its 
object  the  permanent  dissolution  of  the  American  Union. 


tJN'FRIElSrDLTN'ESS  OF  GREAT   BRITAIN.  271 

And  wbeu  an  armed  Confederate  vessel  entered  an  English, 
port,  she  was  permitted  to  take  in  coal  sufficient  to  enable  her 
to  reach  a  southern  port.  This  was  according  to  the  rules  of 
international  law.  But  the  English  authorities  gave  it,  (in  the 
interest  of  the  Confederates),  a  practical  construction  which  con- 
formed to  its  letter  but  violated  its  spirit.  They  held  that  a 
Confederate  steamer  having  coaled  once  in  an  English  port  and 
departed,  might  return  as  often  as  its  officers  pleased,  for  fresh 
supplies  of  coal,  without  any  troublesome  questions  being  asked. 
So  that,  under  this  rule,  a  Confederate  privateer,  without  mak- 
ing a  home  port,  was  able  to  continue  its  cruise  along  the  great 
ocean  highways  frequented  by  our  commercial  marine,  run  into 
Nassau  when  it  pleased  for  coal,  capture  our  merchant  ships, 
and  levy  forced  contributions  upon  or  destroy  them.  They  held 
that  no  violence  was  thereby  done  to  the  principles  of  national 
neutrality,  because  the  British  government  did  not  know  and 
was  not  obligated  to  inform  itself  whether  or  not  the  privateer 
had  since  its  previous  coaling,  returned  to  a  home  port,  nor  what 
had  become  of  its  previous  supplies. 

The  unfriendliness  of  the  British  government  to  the  American 
Union  at  that  time,  furnished  a  solid  foundation  ujDon  which 
the  rebellion  rested  its  hopes.  It  greatly  protracted  the  Avar,  and 
largely  increased  the  harvests  of  suffering  and  deatli,  and,  as  a 
necessary  consequence,  impoverished  the  South,  wasted  the  sub- 
stance of  the  North,  and  stirred  up  bitter  feelings  of  hostility 
between  the  two  nations  after  the  memories  of  old  and  bloody 
family  quarrels  had  nearly  faded  away.  And  what  did  England 
and  her  colonies  thereby  gain  ?  The  cotton  she  received  from 
blockade  runners  during  the  war,  formed  but  a  very  small  frac- 
tional part  of  the  entire  crop.  The  value  of  her  vessels  and  car- 
goes captured  by  our  cruisers  while  endeavoring  to  run  the 
blockade,    aggi'egated  many  millions  of  dollars,     Nassau   waa 


273  ISLES   OF  SUMMEE. 

rendered  wild  and  delirious  by  becoming  for  a  time  a  great  com- 
mercial center,  and  awoke  to  find  herself  only  weakened  by  the 
dissipations  which  the  great  carnival  had  caused;  wiiile  England 
was  humiliated  by  an  award  which  compelled  her  to  pay  heavy 
damages  for  injuries  we  suffered  from  the  rebel  cruisers  which 
she  permitted  to  be  fitted  out  in  her  ports.  Tlie  two  countries 
are  bound  together  by  the  strongest  of  ties — blood,  language, 
mutual  dependence,  religion,  literature  and  law — but  the  love 
and  respect  of  cliildren  for  their  mother  can  be  greatly  impaired 
and  even  turned  into  hate.  It  should  never  be  forgotton,  how- 
ever, that  the  British  Queen  stood  faithfully  by  the  Union  in  the 
days  of  its  sorest  peril,  and  that  the  great  body  of  the  British 
people  were  also  with  us. 

The  yellow  fever  prevailed  at  Nassau  in  the  years  18G1,  18G3, 
1863  and  1861,  and  resulted  in  the  loss  of  many  lives. 

The  statistics  of  crime,  disease  and  death,  during  this  period 
in  Nassau,  clearly  prove  this  bad  business  to  have  been  equally  un- 
favorable to  sound  health  and  good  morals.  There  were  commit- 
ted to  prison  in  the  Police  Co'urt  in  Nassau  in 

1861, Males,  375,  Females,  189. 

1863, "  523,  "   223. 

1863 "  6S9,  "   189. 

1864, "  891,  "   221. 

There  were  tried  for  the  more  heinous  offences  in  the  General 
Court  in 

1861, 17.— Convicted,  13,  Acquifed,  4 

1862, 34.—    "    22,  "    13. 

1833,  82.-    "    59,  "   23. 

1884, C9.—    «'    75,  "   24. 


XASSAU    AXD    BLOCKADE    RUNISrilSrG. 


273 


The  following  table  from  Gov,  Eawson's  report  exhibits  the 
number  of  vessels  which  arrived  from  and  departed  for  the  south- 
ern states  at  Nassau,  from  18G2  to  1865: 


1    Arrived  from  Southern  States. 

Departed  for  Southern  S'tates. 

Years 

Steamers. 

Smill  Sailing 
Vessels. 

steamers. 

Small  Sailing 
Vessels. 

1861 

1863 
1863 
1864 
1865 

2 

33 
113 
105 

35 

2 

74 

27 

6 

3 

46 
178 
165 

41 

1 

109 

48 

2 

Total, 

287 

109 

428 
287 

160 

109 

Excess  0 

f  Departures, 

141 

51 

Of  these,  forty-two  steamers  are  known  to  have  been  captured, 
and  twenty-two  to  have  been  wrecked,  chiefly  off  the  jDorts  of 
Charleston  and  Wilmington.  Thirty-two  were  confederate  ves- 
sels. Of  the  twenty-three  steamers  which  remained  m  the  harbor 
of  Nassau,  or  arrived  in  it  after  the  Southern  ports  were  taken, 
twelve  cleared  for  England,  four  for  Halifax,  two  for  Bermuda, 
three  for  Havana,  one  for  St.  Thomas,  and  one  for  Matamoras. 

During  the  whole  period,  18G1-1SG5,  104  steamers,  connected 
with  the  trade  of  the  Southern  States,  entered  the  i)ort  of  Nassau. 
Of  these,  108  brought  cargoes  from  the  coast.  Fifty-six  are  re- 
corded as  having  left  the  port  of  Nassau,  but  do  not  figure  among 
the  arrivals  from  the  coast.  Fifty-one  steamers  made  but  one 
voyage  each,  and  twenty-three  two  voyages  each.  Two  steamers 
made  ten  trips,  and  the  Syren  eighteen.  On  her  nineteenth 
Toyage  she  was  captured. 


374  ISLES   OF  SUMMER. 

In  1863  the  expenses  of  a  vessel  which  could  carry  800  bales 
(including  wages,  coal,  provisions,  labor,  repairs  and  agent's  com- 
missions,) were  about  £3000  for  a  round  trip,  to  and  fro.  In 
the  following  year  the  expenses  were  increased  to  £5000.  The 
salary  of  the  captain  rose  from  £600  to  £1000  for  tlie  trip,  with 
the  privilege  of  carrying  ten  bales  of  cotton  on  his  own  account. 
The  purser  and  first  officer  received  each  £300,  with  the  privilege 
of  carrying  two  bales  each,  and  the  pilot  received  £1000,  with  the 
privilege  of  carrying  five  bales. 

A  first  class  steamer  would  run  from  Charleston  or  Wilmington 
to  Nassau,  in  about  forty-eight  hours.  She  could  be  discharged 
in  twenty-four  hours,  the  laborers  working  day  and  night.  But 
three  days  for  loading  and  unloading  was  considered  good  dis- 
patch. The  excitement,  extravagance  and  waste  which  prevailed 
under  such  circumstances  may  be  easily  imagined. 

During  the  war,  had  the  colored  people  who  compose  about 
three-fourths  of  the  population  of  the  Bahamas,  known  that  the 
question  of  the  enfranchisement  of  five  millions  of  their  race  was 
involved  m  the  struggle,  we  should  at  least  have  had  their  warm 
sympathies  on  our  side.  But  nearly  everything  relating  to  the 
war  that  was  published  in  ]S[assau,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to 
learn,  was  favorable  to  the  rebel  side.  This  may  also  be  fairly 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  oxlt  battle  of  that  war  that 
the  publisher  of  the  "  Nassau  Guardian  "  has  noticed  In  the  col- 
umns of  important  events  inserted  in  his  Nassau  Almanac  for 
1879,  is  that  of  Bull  Ruj^,  July  21,  1861. 

It  is  charitable  to  conclude  that  the  editor  and  compiler  has 
never  heard  of  the  great  Union  victories  that  culminated  in  a 
restored  Union,  and  we  trust,  a  permanent  peace  between  the  two 
sections  of  our  common  country. 


CHAPTER  XVIL 

The  Bahama  Constitution.  Opening  of  the  Colonial  Legislature.  ImpO' 
sing  Ceremonies.  The  Negroes  Made  Happy.  The  Governor  and  his  Military 
Guard  of  Hmor.  "  Parliament "  Prorogued.  Martial  Music  and  Booming 
Cannon.  Engrossed  Bills  Approved  and  Signed.  Small  Annual  Crops  of 
New  Laws.  No  Color  Line  in  ths  House  of  Asssmbly.  Wrecks  and  Wrecking 
in  the  Baha/ihas.     Salvors  and  Salvage.     Bahama  Hurricanes. 

"Why,  man,  he  doth  bestride  the  narrow  world 
Like  a  colossus ;  and  we,  petty  men, 
Walk  under  his  huge  legs,  and  peep  about 
To  find  ourselves  dishonorable  graves." — Shakespeare. 

I2f  1879,  the  day  after  our  arrival  at  Kassau  was  distinguished 
by  the  opening  of  a  new  session  of  the  Bahama  Legishiture.  Our 
landlord  kindly  secured  for  us  tickets  of  admission,  for  only  those 
thus  favored  were  allowed  to  witness  the  ceremonies.  They  bqj'e 
the  official  signature  of  the  President  of  the  Council.  The  chief 
executive  officer  of  the  Bahamas  was  Governor  William  Robinson, 
a  man  with  black  hair  and  eyes,  a  heavy  moustache  and  long 
beard.  He  was  apparently  not  over  forty  years  of  age,  five  feet 
eight  or  nine  inches  high,  rather  good  looking,  and  had  a  practi- 
cal business  air  about  him.  He  appeared  in  most  excellent  phys- 
ical condition,  ^ith  the  thermometer,  even  in  the  winter 
ranging  in  the  shade  among  the  seventies,  he  b'ore  up  under  the 
following  heavy  weight  of  titles  and  descriptive  appellations. 

"His  Excellency  William  Robinson,  Esq.,  Companion  of  the 
most  distinguished  order  of  St.  Michael  and  St.  George,  Governor 

875 


27$  ISLES  6f  summer. 

and  Commander-in-Chief  in  and  over  the  Bahama  Islands,  Vice 
Admiral  and  Ordinary  of  the  same. " 

These  titles  are  not  only  harmless,  but,  under  British  rule, 
they  very  likely  serve  a  useful  purpose,  and  help  to  make  the 
people  respect  and  reverence  those  whom  it  is  the  pleasure  of  the 
home  government  to  appoint  and  send  out  to  rule  over  them.  A 
Bahama  negro  especially,  may  be  expected  to  be  very  greatly  im- 
pressed when  a  new  governor  comes  upon  tho  island  to  represent 
the  Queen  with  such  an  imposing  array  of  titles. 

In  this  case,  we  felt  less  disposed  to  be  amused  when  we  ob- 
served that  the  governor's  public  utterances  indicated  practical 
administrative  talents,  and  a  desire  to  promote  the  general  wel- 
fare. 

There  is  an  Executive  Council,  composed  of  nine  members; 
four  who  hold  other  high  offices,  are  members  ex  officio. 

'^ Parliament"'  (as  in  common  speech  here  the  General  As- 
sembly is  termed)  is  composed  of  eight  Councilmen,  who  are 
appointed  for  life  by  the  Queen  upon  the  nomination  of  the 
Governor,  and  a  "House  of  Assembly"  composed  of  forty-one 
delegates  from  this  and  neighboring  islands,  who  are  elected  for 
seven  years.  To  be  eligible,  they  must  own  real  estate  of  the 
value  of  $2,500.  They  receive  no  pecuniary  compensation  for 
their  services. 

It  is  common  for  citizens  of  Nassau  to  represent  in  the  Assem- 
bly the  people  of  some  of  the  other  islands.  They  desire  the 
honor,  and  can  better  afford  to  hold  the  office,  as  the  Legislature 
meets  near  their  houses  and  places  of  business.  This  gives  Nas- 
sau a  controlling  influence  in  all  legislative  matters. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Colonial  government  follows 
closely  the  English  model.  It  is  eminently  fitted  to  secure  sta- 
bility, and  we  think,  wise  legislation. 

The  constitution  is  not  based  upon  any  charter,  but  originated 
in  successive  Koyal  Commissions  to  the  governors  empowering 


6]p'e?C"iN"G  6f  "parliament.**  ^"i"? 

them  to  convoke  a  General  Assembly.     The  number  who  voted 
in  1861,  was  4,351. 

The  common  law  is  the  foundation  of  the  jurisprudence  of  the 
colony,  but  the  amendments  introduced  from  time  to  time  in 
England  have  been  generally  adopted  without  delay.  In  1848, 
the  Attorney  General  was  made  public  prosecutor,  and  it  was 
provided  that  in  all  civil  cases,  and  in  all  but  capital  criminal 
cases,  the  verdict  of  two-thirds  of  the  petty  jury  might  be  taken, 
and  that  in  capital  cases  two-thirds  might  acquit  but  not  convict. 

We  confess  that  Ave  had  a  curiosity  to  witness  the  ceremonies 
attending  the  opening  of  a  "parliament"  possessing  certain 
limited  legislative  powers  over  such  a  large  number  of  islands, 
inhabited  and  otherwise. 

To  secure  favorable  seats,  we  went  early  to  the  Council  Cham- 
ber. One  o'clock,  p.  m.,  was  the  hour  appointed  for  the  services 
to  commence.  Our  little  piece  of  pasteboard  was  duly  respected 
and  honored  by  the  colored  officials  who  guarded  the  approaches 
to  the  Council  Hall. 

This  hall  is  unpretentious,  and  can  seat  comfortably  about  150 
persons.  It  has  windows  on  tbree  sides.  At  one  end  of  it  was 
a  platform  slightly  raised  above  the  main  uncarpeted  floor,  with 
its  own  backing  all  draped  with  red  bunting,  and  surmountec^by 
the  red  cross  of  St.  George.  Upon  this  platform  stood  the  chair 
of  the  presiding  officer. 

The  sound  of  martial  music  in  the  street  as  the  hour  of  one 
approached,  was  quickly  followed  b}'  the  entrance  into  the  hall 
of  the  members  of  the  upper  house.  They  were  mostly  not  far 
from  seventy  years  of  age,  intelligent  looking,  and  had  every 
appearance  of  being  the  riglit  men  in  the  right  place.  To  see 
them  was  to  have  confidence  in  them.  No  Connecticut  Senate 
ever  impressed  us  more  favorably.  They  occupied  arm  chairs 
Avith  high  backs,  upholstered  with  leather,  near  to  and  in  front 
of  the  president's  chair. 

H 


S7$  ISLES  OF  STTMMER. 

A  i3olice  force  was  in  charge  of  the  hall  and  its  approaches, 
and  gave  seats  to  the  citizens  and  visitors  from  abroad,  who  soon 
occupied  all  the  seats  back  of  the  table  of  the  Legislative  Council. 
These  policemen  were  all  young  and  black,  yet  very  bright  look- 
ing. TliGv  wore  blue  jackets,  white  pantaloons,  and  fatigue  caps. 
Belts  encircled  their  waists,  to  which  were  secured  clubs  like 
those  carried  by  policemen  in  northern  cities.  They  seemed  to 
be  23icked  men,  and  were  polite  and  gentlemanly  in  every  respect, 
having  nothing  of  that  offeusiveness  of  manner  so  common  when 
ignorance  and  brutality  are  invested  with  a  little  brief  authority. 
•  The  people  there  assembled  to  witness  the  ceremonies  were 
evidently  highly  cultivated  and  intelligent,  and  all  seemed  to 
appreciate  and  enjoy  the  honor  of  this  novel  entertainment. 

The  Governor,  having  left  the  Government  House,  was  received 
at  the  Legislative  building  by  a  colored  military  guard  of  honor 
in  gay  uniforms  and  white  turbans.  They  formed  a  detachment 
from  the  First  We3t  India  re^hn3nt,  and  presented  arms  while 
the  national  anthem  was  j^laycd  by  the  band.  The  Zouave  uni- 
form has  special  attractions  for  the  negro. 

Soon  the  Governor,  accompanied  by  high  officers  of  state,  and 
followed  by  the  officers  and  members  of  the  lower  house,  entered 
the  Council  Chamber,  took  a  position  upon  the  raised  platform, 
gave  a  dignified  bow  to  the  venerable  members  of  the  upper  house, 
who  all  rose  to  receive  him,  surveyed  deliberately  and  with  seem- 
ing satisfaction,  his  brilliant  audience,  and  then,  while  still  stand- 
ing, read  friDm  manuscript  his  speech.  The  members  of  the 
Assembly  and  others  who  came  with  him  remained  also  standmg 
on  his  right.  He  was  dressed  in  blue,  Avhile  a  moderate  quantity 
of  gold  lace,  and  a  sheathed  sword  by  his  side,  indicated  that 
while  Governor  he  also  filled  the  position  of  a  military  commander. 
His  army  then  in  commission  at  ]S"assau,  consisted  of  two  com- 
panies of  colored  troops.     In  the  division  of  Legislative  honors 


"  PARLIAMENT  "    PKOROGUEO.  219 

the  negroes  had  a  portion  allotted  to  them,  several  of  them  being 
members  of  the  lower  house. 

The  Governor's  speech  was  ably  written,  and  effectively  de- 
livered. It  covered  matters  of  practical  importance,  and  would 
compare  well  with  the  speeches  and  messages  of  our  State  execu- 
tives. 

The  address  concluded  by  a  suggestion  that  sounded  very 
homo-like,  that  the  present  session  of  the  Assembly  might  be 
even  shorter  than  the  last,  which  in  brevity  surpassed  its  prede- 
cessors. 

After  delivering  his  speech,  His  Excellency  and  his  suite  with- 
drew, and  the  members  of  the  lower  house  retired  to  their  cham- 
ber. Both  houses  afterwards  voted  replies.  As  the  Governor 
left  the  building  a  salute  was  fired  from  three  field  pieces,  the 
troops  concluded  their  escort  duty,  and  all  the  colored  population 
of  Xassau  which  had  assembled  to  see  the  show,  followed  His 
Excellency's  example,  satisfied  and  gratified  with  the  short  epi- 
sode which  had  broken  the  monotony  of  their  every  day  life. 

Before  we  left  Nassau  in  1879,  the  Bahama  Parliament  was 
prorogued  by  the  Governor  with  imposing  formalities.  At  the 
appointed  hour.  His  Excellency,  accompanied  by  his  Secretary 
and  other  high  officials,  was  escorted  from  the  Government 
House,  (as  his  residence  is  called,)  to  the  building  in  which  the 
Senate  holds  its  sessions,  by  the  colored  troops,  while  martial 
music  imparted  life  and  spirit  to  the  indolent  air.  The  semi- 
royal  pageant  was  a  god-send  to  the  negroes,  as  it  broke  in  pleas- 
antly upon  the  dull  monotony  of  their  every  day  life,  and,  in  Bay 
street  where  the  procession  passed,  they  constituted,  to  the  eyes 
of  northern  strangers,  the  most  interesting  part  of  the  show. 

The  legislative  "  dissolving  views  "  were  witnessed  by  those  only 
who  had  been  favored  Avith  tickets  wliich  secured  them  a  free 
pass  to  the  Senate  Chamber,  and,  being  numbered  among  the 


280  ISLES   OP   StJMMER. 

fortunate  ones,  we  repaired  in  good  season  to  the  appointed  place, 
inspired  by  a  natural  curiosity  to  witness  the  "  giving  up  of  the 
ghost"  by  an  integral  and  important  part  of  the  law  making 
power  of  this  out-lying  portion  of  the  Queen's  possessions. 

The  Senators,  (or  colonial  lords.)  grayo,  dignified  and  prepos- 
sessing in  their  appearance,  took  possession  of  their  high-backed 
arm  chairs,  and  in  low  tones  conversed  with  each  other,  until 
the  sound  of  approaching  footsteps  indicated  the  arrival  of  their 
more  youthful  and  less  experienced  superior  in  official  rank  and 
honors. 

In  the  presiding  officer's  chair,  (which  was  decorated  with  ban- 
ners and  bunting,)  the  Governor  was  soon  comfortably  seated  and 
enthroned.  His  military  dress  and  sheathed  sword  were  mildly 
suggestive  of  the  power  which  upholds  government,  and  gives 
effect  and  potency  to  law.  He  received,  as  before,  the  speaker 
and  members  of  the  lower  house,  the  former  accompanied  by  his 
large  and  conspicuous  mace  of  office,  brought  to  Xassau  from 
South  Carolina  by  the  royalists  after  the  revolution  of  177G, 
while  a  clerk  or  secretary  carried  the  parchment  rolls  upon  whicli 
were  engrossed  the  unsigned  bills  of  public  acts  which  had  suc- 
cessfully run  the  gauntlet  of  the  two  houses.  Each  roll  was 
successively  handed  to  the  speaker,  who,  in  an  audible  voice,  in- 
dicated its  character  by  reading  its  title,  and  handed  it  to  the 
Governor,  who  signed  it  in  the  presence  of  both  houses  of  the 
colonial  parliament,  and  thus,  by  his  approval  and  signature, 
united  with  the  legislative  branch  of  the  govcrnmont  in  making 
it  a  law  of  the  colony.  There  were  in  1879  but  five  rolls,  so  that 
only  five  laws  were  enacted  at  one  entire  session  of  the  Bahama 
Lesrislature.  We  had  no  means  of  determining  to  what  extent 
this  extremely  short  law  crop  was  chargeable  to  the  climate.  In 
the  crisp,  cool  air  of  the  north,  crime  is  tirelessly  active,  and  con- 
stantly assumes  new  and  unexpected  forms,  rendering  additional 


^'parliament"  prorogued.  ^81 

enactments  necessary,  "wliile  the  rapid  growth  of  new  industries, 
the  great  accumulations  of  wealth  in  ever  changing,  forms,  and 
the  constantly  increasing  complications  of  human  affairs,  public 
and  private,  give  rise  to  countless  and  unending  changes  in  the 
laws.  But  rest,  repose,  quiet,  torpor,  sleep — lie  down  and  nestle 
in  the  soothing,  languid  air  of  the  isle  of  unending  summer. 
Industry  and  enterprise  wilt  and  wither  in  an  atmosphere  that 
seems  made  for  disordered  nerves,  and  worn  and  weary  minds, 
and  for  the  development  and  growth  of  vegetable  life  and  beauty. 
Only  five  new  laws  in  one  entire  legislative  session!  But  for  the 
wrecking  business,  the  ten  commandments,  with  suitable  penal- 
ties, appended  like  snappers  to  whips,  would  almost  meet  tlie 
requirements  of  these  happy  islanders  so  far  as  law  is  concerned. 

There  were  sixteen  engrossed  bills  in  1880  that  received  the 
Governor's  signature  upon  a  similar  occasion  when  we  were  pres- 
ent. 

■  The  Governor,  after  giving  his  sanction,  and  adding  his  sig- 
nature to  the  enactments,  addressed  the  two  houses  separately 
and  collectively,  after  the  manner  of  the  Britisti  Queen  in  Par- 
liament, and  said: 

"  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Honorable,  the  Legisla- 
tive Council; 

"Mr.  Speaker  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Honorable  House  of  As- 
sembly; 

"I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  relieve  you  from  your  parliamentary 
duties,  and  thank  you  for  your  cooperation  in  all  matters  that 
have  been  submitted  for  your  consideration; 

"  Mr.  Speaker  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Honorable  House  of  As- 
sembly; 

"I  am  much  indebted  to  you  for  the  very  liberal  supplies 
which  have  been  voted." 

The  Governor  alluded  to  the  government  as  *  *  my  government," 


SS^  ISLES   OF   SUMMEE. 

which  together  with  his  reference  to  the  supplies  which  had  been 
voted,  made  the  idea  prominent  that  his  excellency  was  the  gov- 
ernment itself,  and  not  merely  an  executive  officer  authorized  to 
see  that  a  government  of  written  laws  is  duly  enforced. 

After  complimenting  the  Assembly  by  telling  its  members 
that  "they  had  kept  pace  with  the  legislation  of  the  mother 
country,"  he  said: 

"  By  virtue  of  the  power  invested  in  me  by  her  majesty,  I  now 
prorogue  this  parliament  until  the  11th  day  of  May  next."  The 
Governor  then  retired,  accompanied  by  the  officials  who  had 
graced  and  honorci  the  occasion  with  their  presence.  They  were 
followed  by  the  members  of  tl^e  two  houses,  and  by  the  amused 
and  gratified  spectators.  The  latter,  for  awhile,  mingled  with 
the  crowd  outside,  whose  loyalty  may  be  fairly  presumed  to  have 
been  intensified  by  the  inspiring  notes  of  martial  music,  the 
thunder  of  deei)-mouthed  cannon,  and  the  showy  uniforms  and 
soldierly  bearing  and  evolutions  of  the  colored  troops  who  acted 
as  a  guard  of  honor  to  his  excellency. 

As  the  legislature  was  only  adjourned  for  three  or  four  weeks, 
the  affair  would  have  been  a  waste  of  time  and  powder,  if  time 
had  there  any  money  value,  or  public  shows  had  been  more  com- 
mon. 

On  those  occasions  when  we  attended  the  meetings  of  the 
House  of  Assembly,  its  sessions  were  in  the  evening,  and  only 
routine  business  that  did  not  consume  more  than  half  an  hour, 
was  transacted.  Members  rose  languidly  from  their  easy  seats 
and  addressed  a  few  words  to  the  speaker  in  a  low  tone  of  voice. 
The  speaker  had  reduced  parliamentary  brevity  to  a  fine  point. 
In  putting  a  question,  he  very  quietly  said — "negatives  rise — it 
is  carried. "  This  mode  insured  an  unanimous  vote  in  the  affirm- 
ative, as  something  extraordinary  would  be  required  to  induce  a 
member  to  rise  out  of  his  comfortable  and  roomy  chair.     Thg 


THE    WKKCKIXG    lU'SJIXESS.  28)5 

Colored  members  looked  intelligent,  appeared  well,  and  seemed 
to  command  the  respect  of  their  white  associates. 

WKECKS   AXD    WEECKIKG. 

Much  may  be  truthfully  said  in  commendation  of  the  delicate 
silken  web  of  the  spider,  as  its  gossamer  threads,  gemmed  with 
tiew-drops,  glisten  in  the  morning  sunlight, — but  to  many  gay, 
sportive  insects  it  is  a  trap  of  death.  Little  do  they  think  of  the 
lurking  peril  as  they  fan  the  warm  air  with  their  tiny  wings,  and 
voice  their  happiness  in  gentle  murmurs.  Thus  in  the  clear 
warm  waters  of  a  summer  sea,  the  Bahamas  attract  by  their 
beauty,  and  lull  and  disarm  suspicion  by  their  soft  and  languid 
air.  But  a  more  dangerous  place  is  nowhere  to  be  found  in  all 
the  paths  of  commerce.  Xumerous  islands,  keys,  rocks  and 
reefs,  deceitful  currents  and  cross  currents,  and  extensive  shoals 
and  banks,  constitute  only  a  part  of  the  perils  which  ever  lurk 
in  these  much  frequented  waters,  for  wreckers  have  succeeded 
the  pirates,  and  the  salvage  of  the  salvors,  and  the  legal  and  other 
expenses,  not  unf  rcqucntly  absorb  all  that  the  destroying  elements 
and  engulfing  waters  have  left.  Deprived  of  the  means  of  sup- 
port which  the  varied  industries  of  colder  climates  so  lavishly 
furnish,  hundreds  of  the  Bahamians  wait  and  watch  for  wrecks, 
as  our  northern  cats  wait  and  watch  for  summer  birds. 

The  government  officials  and  the  courts  of  admiralty,  under 
the  broad  aegis  of  colonial  revenue  acts  and  mjxritime  law,  are 
handsomely  provided  for  in  the  division  of  the  spoils  of  the  sea, 
so  that  in  many  cases  the  owners  in  distaut  States  have  to  thank 
Nassau  for  little  more  than  a  convenient  and  sufficiently  roomy 
burial  place  for  their  property  and  their  hopes. 

The  number  of  wrecks  reported  in  seven  years,  from  1858  to 
1864,  was  313,  of  which  259  were  claimed  to  be  tota,!  losses — • 
which  means,  we  suppose,  total  so  far  as  their  owners  were  con- 


384  ISLES   OF   SUAIMER. 

cerued;  the  wreckers  and  gorernment  and  court  officials  took  all 
that  was  saved  as  a  compensation  for  their  services.  The  hurri- 
cane months  are  August,  Sei^tember  and  October,  yet  of  these 
313  cases,  199  occurred  during  the  six  months  ending  May  1st 
of  cacli  of  these  seven  years,  being  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  whole 
number. 

The  amount  of  salvage  awarded  from  1855  to  1864,  in  fifty- 
nine  derelict  cases,  was  £11,318  10s.  5d.,  and  in  thirty-seven 
salvage  cases,  £59,955  143.  8d.,  making  a  total  salvage  for  those 
ten  years,  of  over  8350,000,  being  about  six  times  more  than 
was  paid  to  the  proprietors  by  the  English  crown  for  the  whole 
group  of  islands.  In  1865  the  owners  of  the  American  steamer 
Herman  Livingston,  which  was  stranded  and  got  off,  paid, 
under  an  agreement  with  the  master  and  salvors,  $30,000.  The 
salvors,  after  discounting  the  bill,  received  £5,480  3s.  This  was 
divided  among  thirty-two  vessels  and  boats. 

Governor  Eawson  says:  ''It  is  stated  on  good  authority,  that 
the  average  salvage  allowed,  chiefly  by  arbitration,  which  twenty 
years  ago  amounted  to  sixty  per  cent.,  has  not  during  the  la'st 
five  years,  (1859  to  18G4,)  exceeded  forty  per  cent.,  and  that  the 
charges  for  commissions  amount  to  ten  per  cent,  on  the  mer- 
chandise saved,  and  for  labor,  storage,  &c.,  to  four  per  cent, 
more.  From  the  above,  the  extent  may  be  inferred,  to  which  the 
population  of  the  colony,  maritime  and  commercial,  has  been  and 
continues  to  be  interested  in  this  source  of  emj)loyment  and  in- 
come." 

The  total  value  of  wrecked  property,  including  hulks  and 
materials,  paying  ad  valorem  duties  of  twenty  per  cent.,  auction 
duties  of  five  per  cent.,  and  specific  duties  and  of  property  re- 
exported, aggregated  £638,864. 

Gov.  Rawson  also  states  that  wrecking  has  had  the  necessary 
and  usual  effect  of  demoralizing  the  persons  engaged  in  such, 


SURRICAXES. 


285 


occupations,  of  diverting  their  attention  from  agriculture  or  any 
other  industrial  pursuit,  exposing  them  to  the  trials  .and  tempta- 
tions of  alternate  abundance  and  want,  and  accustoming  them  to 
rejoice  in  the  misfortunes  which  bring  calamity  and  ruin  to 
others. 

The  local  legislature  has  endeavored  to  bring  the  wrecking 
system  under  control  by  a  law  which  requires  licenses  to  be  taken 
out  for  men  and  vessels,  provides  for  the  a23pointment  of  wreck 
masters,  apportions  the  share  of  salvage  which  each  vessel  and 
its  crew  may  claim,  and  imposes  penalties  for  certain  acts  of  mis- 
conduct. In  1858  there  were  licensed  302  vessels  and  2,679  men; 
in  1865  only  176  vessels  and  712  men.  The  late  civil  war  in  the 
States  occasioned  this  difference. 

HUREICAXES. 

As  the  hurricane  has  a  great  sanitary  mission  to  perform  in 
purifying  the  air  and  destroying  the  germs  of  malignant  diseases 
in  the  "West  India  islands,  it  is  seldom  that  more  than  three  or 
four  years  pass  by  without  some  manifestations  of  its  presence 
and  power.     At  such  times  tlie  wreckers  reap  a  rich  reward. 

The  following  list  of  hurricanes  that  are  known  to  have  passed 
over  the  Bahamas  is  taken  from  Gov.  Rawson's  report: 


1780,  October, 3  to    4. 

4tol6. 

1796,        "        3  to    5. 

1801,  September, 5  to   6. 

1804,        "  7  to    9. 

1813,  Julj^ 23  to  24. 

"      Au'^ust, .  23  to  24. 

1S21,  September, 1  to    2. 

1827,  Au-ust, 2:)t;)':2. 

1830,        '"       13  to  14. 

18;J5,         "       14tolo. 

1837,         "       2  to    8. 


1838,  September, 5  to    8. 

1842,  August 2  to   4. 

1844,  October, 5  to    6. 

1846,        "       10  to  11. 

1848,  August, 22  to  28. 

1853,         "       18  to  20. 

1856,  " 25  to  27. 

1857,  November, 10  to  12. 

18  8,  Octolicr, IGtolO. 

1861,  August, 13  to  15. 

18G3,         "       27  to  28. 

1865,  October, 23  to  25, 


^86 


ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 


This  list,  includes  those  hurricanes  only  concerning  which  Gov. 
Rawson  had  reliable  information.  Probably  there  Avere  others 
during  the  period  covered  by  his  table.  We  suppose  also  that 
many  of  the  hurricanes  mentioned  visited  only  a  portion  of  the 
Bahamas.  The  terrible  hurricane  which  inflicted  such  serious 
damage  upon  Nassau  in  August,  18G6,  desolated  many  other 
islands,  and  damaged  and  destroyed  a  very  large  number  of  ves- 
sels. The  recent  hurricane  that  caused  such  a  destruction  of 
property  in  Jamaica,  and  wrecked  the  steamer  Vera  Cruz  in  the 
Gulf  of  Florida,  with  great  loss  of  life,  must  have  been  felt  to 
some  extent  on  the  island  of  New  Providence.  Very  favorable 
official  reports  have  since  been  received  from  Nassau  in  regard  to 
the  health  of  that  city. 


CHAPTEK  XVIII. 

The  Social  Life  of  Nassau.  Society  Pervaded  by  Natural  Chrystalizing 
Laics.  English  Forms  and  Titles  losll  Rooted.  Citizens  of  the  Great  Repub- 
lic AmMtiotcs  to  Mix  and  Mingle  in  High-toned  Society.  Social  Gaycties — • 
Picnics  and  Balls,  Wine  and  Waltzing,  the  "  Soicnd  of  Revelry  at  Night." 
Highways  Made  and  Repaired  to  Accommodate  the  Victims  of  a  too  Geyierous 
Hospitality.  A  Governor  tcho  Appreciates  the  Dance,  and  does  not  Under- 
estimate the  Value  of  His  Titles.  A  Doctor  of  Divinity  Made  Happy.  In 
What  Places  Hospitality  is  Indigenoics. 

"Fill  the  bright  goblet ;  spread  the  festive  board; 
Summon  the  gay,  the  noble  and  the  fair ; 
Let  mirth  and  music  sound  the  dirge  of  care, 
But  ask  thou  not  if  happiness  be  there — 
Lift  not  the  festal  maslj !"— W.  Soott. 

The  social  life  of  a  people  cannot  but  be  a  matter  of  absorb- 
ing interest  to  the  stranger,  even  if  lie  does  not  acquiesce  in  the 
sentiment  of  the  poet,  who  affirms  that 

"  The  proper  study  of  mankind  is  man." 

In  its  main  roots  and  cardinal  elements  haman  nature  is  the 
same  everywhere;  but  traditions,  education,  customs,  climate  and 
other  influences  and  surrounding  circumstances,  wonderfully 
varied  and  widely  dissimilar,  produce  new  and  unlooked-for  re- 
sults which  arrest  the  attention,  awaken  inquiry,  furnish  food 
for  reflection  and  materials  for  a  criticism  which  is  only  in  aj^pear- 
ance  sometimes  unfriendly.     In  Nassau,  we  were  in  such  a  hap- 

287 


288  ISLES   OF    SUMMER. 

py  frame  of  mind,  being  relieved  from  all  the  harrassing  cares 
and  severe  labors  of  professional  life,  and  having  all  our  nerves 
soothed  and  quieted  by  a  most  delightful  climate,  that  while  we 
were  ready  to  heartily  assent  to  one  line  of  the  poet  that  "  every 
prospect  pleases,"  we  were  by  no  means  willing  to  unite  in  the 
severe  charge  partially  concealed  and  ambushed  in  the  cxj^ress:  m 
that  "only  man  is  vile."  But  our  eyes  were  neither  blind  nor 
bandaged,  and  no  one  tried  to  pull  Bahama  wool  over  them. 

Small  communities  are  inclined  to  overestimate  their  impor- 
tance, magnify  their  merits,  and  to  be  unconscious  of  defects 
and  foibles  which  immediately  attract  a  stranger's  attention. 
They  often  feel  disturbed  when  unfavorably  criticised,  and  the 
pen  of  the  traveler  sometimes  leaves  upon  a  thin  and  morbidly 
sensitive  epidermis,  an  enduring  mark.  In  our  country,  (which 
we  are  pleased  to  call  "'The  Great  Eei3ublic,")  the  inflated  blad- 
der of  conceit  has  often  been  remorselessly  punctured  by  Eng- 
lish tourists.  Across  the  Avide  and  stormy  Atlantic  the  derisive 
laugh  has  been  distinctly  heard.  It  has  penetrated  the  depths 
of  primeval  forests,  and  embittered  the  perfumed  air  of  the 
boundless  prairies  of  the  Great  West.  The  people  of  the  old 
world  are  amused  and  astonished  to  find  their  Yankee  cousins  so 
thin  skinned.  The  latter  are  more  vexed  because  they  cannot 
successfully  retaliate.  Hoary  with  age,  and  rich  with  the  vast 
accumulations  of  many  centuries,  the  great  countries  of  Europe 
know  little  and  care  less  what  may  be  published  concerning  them 
in  the  'Se^  "World. 

We  found  so  much  to  enjoy  and  commend  in  the  Bahamas, 
we  trust  its  people  will  not  consider  us  unfriendly  if  we  allude 
to  some  few  things  which  are  less  complimentary. 

Completely  isolated — an  oasis  in  a  wide  waste  of  waters — Nas- 
sau is  necessarily  a  little  microscopic  world,  but  slightly  connect- 
ed with  the  great  old  and  new  worlds  which  the  vast  ocean,  which 


SOCIAL   LIFE    OF   JSTASSAU.  289 

surrounds  the  island  upon  which  it  is  situated,  divides  and  sepa- 
rates. This  isolation  has  very  naturally  tended  to  foster  some 
degree  of  self-exaltation,  which  could  not  have  existed  had  its 
people  been  brought  in  closer  contact  with  the  great  tides  of 
human  life  and  activity  thousands  of  miles  away. 

It  is  proper,  however,  to  suggest  that  our  observations  of  the 
social  life  of  Nassau  were  taken  from  an  outside  stand-i3oint,  so 
that  the  reader  may  very  properly  allow  a  wide  margin  for  mis- 
takes and  imperfections.  We  did  not  plant  our  feet  upon  a  sin- 
gle round  of  Nassau's  social  ladder,  but,  like  Jacob  of  old,  we 
occasionally  saw  as  we  supposed,  the  angels  ascending  and  de- 
scending upon  it.  Had  we  been  permitted  by  a  kind  Providence 
to  climb,  as  some  were  to  crawl,  up  the  dizzy  heights  of  official 
and  social  life  in  that  little  colonial  capital,  and  been  sufficiently 
calm  and  self-possessed  to  have  observed  with  an  undazed  eye, 
and  to  take  notes  with  a  steady  hand,  we  should  be  better  quali- 
fied to  reflect  back  upon  our  readers  a  little  of  that  intoxicating 
pleasure,  which,  like  a  philter,  is  supposed  to  pervade  that  upper 
and  truly  aristocratic  air.  But,  landing  upon  one  of  the  wharfs 
of  Nassau  utter  strangers  to  her  people,  we  had  no  letters  of 
introduction  that  opened  for  us  the  door  of  a  single  private 
dwelling.  The  Royal  Victoria  Hotel,  with  its  numerous  guests, 
varied  and  constantly  changing,  was  a  little  miniature  world  in 
which  we  Avere  satisfied  to  live  and  revolve,  making  but  few  out- 
side acquaintances,  and  those  slight  and  casual.  We  had  no 
desire  to  commence  a  fresh  set  of  books  for  new  and  short-lived 
friendships,  nor  to  gratify  an  idle  curiosity  by  crossing  the  thresh- 
olds of  hospitality;  but  as  one  can  learn  much,  and  all  he  desires 
to  know,  about  a  gale  of  wind  without  being  exposed  to  its  fury, 
so  a  close  and  careful  observer  upon  the  outer  margin  of  society 
sees  many  things — feathers  in  the  air — that  disclose  to  him  much 
cf  the  ' '  true  inwardness "  of  a  high  life  of  fashion  and  folly, 

^5 


290  ISLES   or  SUMMEE. 

The  eye  of  such  an  observer  is  not  blinded,  nor  his  judgment 
warped,  by  the  subtle  influences  that  envelope,  like  aromatic 
odors,  the  festive  board,  and  infect  the  air  where  invited  guests 
assemble  to  add  new  and  stronger  ties  to  friendships  that  are  not 
always  sincere,  disinterested  and  genuine. 

Small  cities  exhibit  in  miniature  the  different  phases  of  human 
life  which  exist  in  large  ones.  Their  inhabitants  are  never  en- 
tirely homogeneous.  The  integral  parts  are  radically  unlike, 
and  persistently  refuse  to  assimilate.  Great  natural  formative 
and  organizing  laws,  subtle  but  powerful,  are  ever  in  operation, 
crystalizing  and  stratifying  the  elements  of  which  society  is  com- 
posed. Brains  and  blood,  rank  and  fortune,  that  never  would 
be  felt  or  known  in  a  great  metropolis,  ruffle  and  disturb  with 
their  little  eddies  the  insipid  and  otherwise  stagnant  waters  of 
a  small  town. 

However  much  we  may  admire  the  happy  and  contented  spirit 
of  the  grim,  hard-headed,  stoic  Greek  philosopher  of  the  tub, 
who  wanted  nothing  of  the  dispenser  of  royal  patronage  but  such 
a  change  of  position  as  would  secure  the  full  benefit  of  the  light 
and  heat  of  an  unclouded  sun,  it  cannot  with  truth  be  denied 
that  the  love  of  rank,  social  position,  office  and  high  sounding 
titles  is  with  most  persons  inborn  and  inbred.  It  is  in  the  warp 
and  woof  of  their  souls.  Nor  can  that  be  said  to  be  an  "  infirm- 
ity of  noble  minds,"  which  an  all- wise  Creator  has  made  a  part 
of  their  nature.  Looking  a  little  below  the  surface,  we  see  and 
learn  that  these  seemingly  light  and  trivial  objects  of  desire  are 
great  impelling  forces,  constantly  stimulating  and  urging  their 
possessors  upward  and  onward.  Gewgaws  and  trinkets  are  not 
to  be  ignored,  belittled  or  despised,  if,  as  objects  of  human  de- 
sire, constantly  coveted  and  lal^ored  for,  they  furnish  healthful 
stimulus  to  indolence,  and  cause  valuable  additions  to  be  made 
to  man's  stores  of  material  and  intellectual  wealth. 


LADIES   AMBITIOUS    AXD   ASPIRIXG.  291 

In  a  little  town  upon  a  small  island,  from  our  position  on  the 
outside,  perhaps  we  were  inclined  to  be  cynical  and  uncharitable, 
when  we  allowed  ourselves  to  be  amused  at  the  apparent  official 
and  social  exaltation  of  some  of  its  more  favored  people.  If  the 
Governor  at  times  seemed  to  us  a  little  airy;  if  the  young,  newly- 
ajjpointed  and  freshly  imported  Chief  Justice,  who  blossomed 
out  in  a  scarlet  robe  of  office  and  a  wig,  (judicial  toggery  before 
unknown  upon  the  judicial  bench  of  Nassau,)  seemed  to  us  much 
more  elated  than  any  Chief  Justice  we  had  seen  in  the  States; 
]f  the  Bishop  sported  titles  but  little  in  harmony  with  the  humble 
and  modest  spirit  of  the  Apostles  of  the  olden  times;  and  if  to 
our  superficial  view  '*  the  upper  classes"  appeared  somewluU, 
proud,  supercilious  and  exclusive,  it  may  have  been  becaiise  at 
the  time  we  failed  to  remember  that  tliey  were  only  exhibiting 
ti'aits  of  character  common  to  our  race  in  all  parts  of  the  world; 
that  they  were  playing  the  game  of  life,  as  it  is  everywhere  played, 
only  the  stage  upon  which  the  chief  actors  performed  their  several 
parts  was  relatively  small  and  insignificant. 

But  as  we  looked  from  our  fpiiet  nook  upon  the  different  phases 
of  life  in  Nassau,  what  astonished  us  most  was  the  great  desire, 
which  certain  ladies  from  the  States  manifested  to  mingle  on 
terms  of  social  equality  with  the  aristocracy  of  Nassau,  and  to 
receive  attentions  from  officials  with  high  sounding  titles.  The 
poet  is  not  correct  when  he  affirms  that 

"Women,  like  inottis,  are  ever  eatiirlil  hy  ujlare," 

though  it  is  true  lliat  rliey  tVe'iueiii  ly  ai'i',  and  a  very  large  title 
occasionally  surrounds  with  an  attractive  and  dazzling  effulgence 
small,  bad,  and  repulsive  men.  As  woman's  sphere  is  domestic 
and  social,  it  was  natural  that  the  lady  guests  at  Nassau,  finding 
themselves  isolated  and  cut  off  from  the  outside  world,  should 


392  ISLES  OF  SUMMEE. 

desire  to  cultivate  the  acquaintance,  and  stand  or  kneel  on  the 
same  social  platform  with  her  majesty's  Bahama  representative, 
with  his  then  reputed  wealthy  and  very  popular  official  secre- 
tary, with  the  brand  new  "lord"  bishop,  with  his  excellency's 
counsellors,  with  the  venerable  and  very  dignified  members  of 
the  Bahama  house  of  lords,  with  the  honorable  speaker  of  the 
lower  house  of  the  Bahama  parliament,  and  with  the  few  un- 
titled gentry  composing  the  elite  of  the  town.  It  was  perfectly 
natural  that  some  of  the  more  enterprising  and  ambitious  should 
use  all  their  arts,  and  every  attractive  and  alluring  blandishment, 
together  with  full  and  free  libations  of  expensive  wines,  and  other 
stronger,  and,  to  some,  more  attractive  beverages,  in  order  to 
accomplish  a  result  so  much  desired  and  coveted.  It  is  true  that 
the  blood  of  a  portion  of  the  ''gentry"  is  said  not  to  be  perfectly 
pure,  but  it  is  difficult  in  some  cases  of  mixture  to  accurately 
draw  the  color  line,  and  it  is  wise  to  ignore  it,  and  ask  no  ques- 
tions of  one's  partner  in  the  voluptuous  waltz,  which  might  result 
in  banishing  the  inquisitor  from  high-toned  society.  It  is  at 
times  injudicious  to  scrutinize  closely  hair  that  appears  straight 
or  nearly  so.  One  lady  was  quoted  as  saying  that  she  preferred 
Nassau  to  London,  because  it  is  not  so  difficult  in  the  former  to 
gain  admittance  into  good  society,  and  move  in  its  best  circles. 

To  the  few  and  favored  strangers  who  have  the  entree  of  the 
homes  of  the  leaders  of  Nassau  society,  we  have  no  doubt  the 
social  sky  glows  with  a  fervid  and  impassioned  warmth  unknown 
to  colder  climates,  and  sparkles  with  a  fascinating  brilliancy  like 
the  neighboring  phosphorescent  waters  in  the  moonlight.  Pas- 
sions are  more  fervid  in  the  warm  latitudes;  love  is  more  ardent, 
friendship  more  demonstrative,  and  hospitality  more  liberal,  open- 
hearted,  kind,  and  assiduous  to  please.  The  islanders  have 
established  an  enviable  reputation  for  the  agreeable  and  polite 
attentions  which  they  bestowed  in  the  past  upon  strangers  so- 


SOCIAL  GAYETtiES.  293 

journing  among  them.  Formerly,  from  their  isolated  position, 
intercourse  with  the  outside  world  was  infrequent,  but  now,  with 
a  steamboat  load  of  fresh  arrivals  in  a  small  town  once  a  week 
during  the  winter  season,  what  can  the  poor  islanders  do?  Hos- 
pitality withdraws  appalled,  if  not  disgusted,  while  Avarice  and 
Cupidity  stalk  boldly  to  the  front,  and  with  an  enterprise  and 
industry  remarkable  in  such  a  warm  and  enervating  climate, 
scramble  for  the  greenbacks  and  gold  of  the  new-comers.  Like 
a  few  choice  plants  in  a  green-house,  a  little  of  the  old  time  hos- 
pitality is  preserved. 

In  the  "  Letters  from  the  Bahama  Islands,"  written  by  a  lady 
more  than  fifty  years  ago,  much  space  is  occupied  with  descrip- 
tions of  the  social  gayeties  of  Nassau.  Then,  as  now,  picnic 
parties  upon  some  of  the  islands,  or  "■  at  some  rural  spot "  in  the 
suburbs  of  Nassau,  were  of  frequent  occurrence.  "  Most  families  " 
were  accustomed  to  devote  each  Saturday  "to  festivity,"  and 
marooning  parties  upon  that  day  were  common.  All  but  the 
invited  guests  contributed  to  the  entertainment.  The  particular 
things  which  each  furnislied  were  previously  determined  by  a 
ticket  drawn  by  lot  from  those  which  the  managers  pre^jared. 
The  authoress  adds: 

"  The  evening  is  generally  passed  at  the  town  house  of  one  of 
the  party,  at  cards  and  conversation,  and  ends  with  ajyetit  souper^ 
and  I  am  afraid  the  oj^ening  of  the  Holy  Day  finds  many  of  these 
Saturday  revelers  too  dull  and  drowsy  for  morning  prayers." 

The  same  writer  speaks  of  frequent  and  most  charming  dinner 
parties  which  she  attended,  and  of  other  festive  occasions,  when 
the  ladies  ''were  pledged  in  full  bumpers;"  of  supper  upon  the 
deck  of  a  brig  after  a  marooning  excursion  upon  Rose  Ijland,  when 
"champagne  and  the  choicest  wines  flowed  like  the  waters  below 
them  in  sparkling  abundance,  and  the  hours  flew  swiftly  and 
gaily  on;"  of  the  storm  that  kept  them  out  "in  a  pelting  rain 


^94  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

till  two  o'clock  Sunday  morning;"  of  ''state  dinners"  at  half 

past  six  o'clock  given  by  G ,  a  bachelor;  of  supper  at  twelve; 

also  of  supper  on  another  occasion  at  one  o'clock  at  night,  fol- 
lowed by  music  and  dancing  for  she  did  not  know  how  many 
hours;  of  a  ball  in  the  Assembly  Room,  when  the  Grovcrnor  and 
suite  were  saluted  by  the  band  with  the  "King's  March;"  of  re- 
tiring at  four  A.  M. ;  of  a  ball  in  honor  of  the  King's  birth-day, 
when  flags  ornamented  the  shipping  in  the  harbor,  guns  were 
fired,  fire-works  displayed,  and  the  ''dear  five  hundred '' were 
permitted  to  unite  with  their  superiors  in  doing  honor  to  their 
sovereign. 

The  pictures  were  drawn  by  a  friendly  hand,  and  though  made 
more  than  half  a  century  ago,  we  are  inclined  to  believe  that, 
with  slight  modifications,  they  will  answer  very  well  for  the  pres- 
ent day.  From  the  little  which  we  saw,  and  from  information 
derived  from  others,  we  are  of  the  o])inion  that  the  picnics,  the 
balls,  the  nightly  revels,  the  feasting  and  drinking,  the  whist 
parties  and  early  morning  hours  for  retiring,  characterize  to  a 
considerable  extent  the  fashionable  and  high  life  of  this  miniature 
colonial  capital  to-day,  as  in  1823-4.  To  the  ball  which  the 
Governor  gave  at  the  Government  House  while  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren were  in  England,  some  few  of  our  hotel  guests  we  know 
went  late  and  returned  in  the  small  hours  of  the  morning.  His 
Excellency  manifested  in  our  presence  at  the  ball  which  some  of 
the  ladies  of  our  hotel  gave  in  its  dining  hall,  a  great  fondness 
for  the  waltz,  and  was  reported  to  have  taken  part  in  each  of  the 
eighteen  dances  at  the  ball  given  by  himself.  One  gentleman 
who  attended  the  latter  observed  that  the  Governor  was  so  occu- 
pied, while  the  heavy  load  of  official  cares  was  laid  aside,  in 
honoring  his  lady  guests  by  kindly^  consenting  to  embrace  and 
spin  them  around  in  the  rhythmic  circles  of  the  voluptuous  dance 
of  the  German,  as  to  seemingly  forget  what  genuine  politeness 


A   BAHAMA   GOVERXOK.  295 

and  ordinary  courtesy  demanded  of  him  for  the  proper  entertain- 
ment of  his  other  guests.  But  as  he  has  not  then  occupied  his 
exalted  and  honorable  position  for  many  years,  having  been  so 
recently  as  in  1873  simply  "  William  Robinson,  Esq.,"  and  fervid 
passions  lurk  in  the  warm  air,  while  the  ladies  who  received  his 
assiduous  attentions  were  greatly  pleased  and  flattered  thereby, 
we  must  not  criticise  him  too  closely  or  judge  him  with  severity. 
It  is  something  to  be  a  Governor  of  a  British  colony,  even  though 
it  is  poor  and  sparsely  populated,  especially  where  one,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  free  use  of  a  palatial  residence  with  ample  grounds, 
has  a  salary  of  $10,000  a  year.  When  we  saw  in  the  public  library 
of  Nassau  a  little  volume  made  up  of  his  official  report  of  the 
exhibits  of  the  British  colonies  in  the  Vienna  Exposition,  and 
observed  upon  the  first  blank  leaf,  in  his  own  hand-writing,  this 
entry:  ''  Presented  to  the  Nassau  Library  by  H.  E.  Gov.  Robin- 
son, the  author,"  we  were  at  first  disposed  to  smile,  for  we  knew 
that  certain  of  the  able  and  very  modest  men  of  Connecticut, 
whom  it  had  been  our  privilege  and  good  fortune  to  personally 
know,  while  occupying  the  executive  chair  of  a  State  that  has 
brains  and  wealth,  and  industry  and  enterprise,  and  population 
sufficient  m  make  a  great  many  Bahamas,  could  never  have  been 
induced  to  write  "His  Excellency  the  Governor"  before  their 
honored  names.  But  when  we  reflected  that  the  Governor  of 
the  Bahamas  had  been  educated  and  trained  under  institutions 
and  a  political  system  less  democratic  and  radically  different  from 
our  own,  and  where  rank  and  honors  and  high-sounding  titles 
are  held  in  very  high  esteem,  and  when  we  further  considered 
that  Her  Majesty's  most  loyal  subjects  upon  these  little  islands 
had  been  trained  and  educated  to  treat  with  the  most  profound 
and  deferential  respect  the  men  whom  the  Queen  from  time  to 
time  sends  to  them  to  represent  her  sovereign  authority  and 
power,  we  thought  perhaps  His  Excellency  knew  what  his  sub- 


396        '  ISLES   OF  SUMMER. 

jects  (mostly  colored)  required  better  than  we  did,  and  that  pos- 
sibly prof  ound  23olitical  Avisdom  existed,  though  concealed  in  acts 
that  to  plain  democratic  eyes  appeared  ludicrously  egotistical  and 
vain. 

An  old  author  states  that  ''the  general  character  of  the  West 
Indians  is  extremely  pleasing  to  strangers.  They  are  frank,  lively 
and  generous,  and  hospitality  is  carried  to  an  extreme  which  is 
unknown  in  England;  and  there  are  few  persons,  we  believe,  who 
have  ever  visited  these  islands  who  have  not  separated  from  many 
of  the  inhabitants  with  regret."  Speaking  of  the  people  of 
Kingston  in  Jamaica  he  says:  ''It  is  their  pride  to  send  away 
their  guests  so  mellow  as  to  be  scarcely  able  to  find  their  way. 
On  this  account  much  extraordinary  attention  is  paid  to  the  roads 
in  Barbadoes."  "The  streets  of  Jamaica  may  almost  be  said  to 
be  paved  with  glass  bottles,"  How  many  of  these  bottles  had 
done  service  in  "entertaining  angels  unawares,"  is  among  the 
matters  mysterious  and  unknown.  The  miles  of  stone  walls 
which  enclose  the  private  grounds  of  the  jioople  of  Nassau,  are 
to  a  large  extent  surmounted  by  the  broken  fragments  of  glass 
bottles,  laid  in  mortar;  the  broken  glass  is  strongly  suggestive 
of  the  convivial  habits  of  Nassau  in  the  earlier  times.  One  would 
suppose  it  extremely  unwise  to  engraft  the  habits  of  the  English 
aristocracy,  who  are  accustomed  to  raise  the  damp  and  chilly  fogs 
which  envelope  them  with  the  contents  of  the  bottle,  upon  the 
customs  of  a  people  who  live  in  an  atmosphere  of  almost  tropical 
heat.  But  the  leaders  of  fashion  in  Nassau  arc  not  only  extremely 
loyal  to  their  most  excellent  queen,  but  seem  to  aspire  in  every 
way  to  mould  their  habits  and  conform  their  lives  to  English 
models,  without  any  regard  to  the  wide  differences  which  exist  in 
all  the  circumstances  which  surround  them.  We  should  antici- 
pate that,  as  a  natural  and  necessary  consequence,  a  rapid  wasting 
of  all  the  vital  energies  of  mind  and  1)ody,  and  a  material  short- 
ening of  the  term  of  human  life. 


^l  P/nnt    Ji  f  (l(  n        l    \ 


NASSAU   HOSPITALITY.  297 

The  pleasant  and  agreeable  attentions  which  are  shown  by  the 
local  clergy  of  Nassau  and  some  prominent  church  members  to 
ecclesiastics  from  abroad,  who,  by  letter  or  otherwise,  make  them- 
selves known,  may  be  inferred  from  the  following  extract  from 
a  short  descriptive  and  highly  eulogistic  account  of  Nassau,  com- 
municated to  a  Xew  York  religious  paper  by  a  clergyman.     He 
writes  under  the  date  of  March  25,  187G:  ''The  hospitality  of 
the  inhabitants  is  as  warm  and  genial  as  their  clime.     The  jiolite 
cordiality  extended  to  non-residents  makes  them  forget  they  are 
strangers  in  a  strange  land."    A  burrowing  animal  from  its  little 
hole  in  the  ground  is  about  as  well  qualified  to  describe  a  universe 
which  it  has  not  seen,  as  is  a  Doctor  of  Divinity  to  accurately 
portray  the  hospitality  of  a  place,  because  the  doors  of  certain 
good,  pious  and  appreciative  persons  have  always  been  flung  wide 
open  at  the  approach  of  one  of  God's  faA'ored  ambassadors.     We 
doubt  if  the  learned  doctor  was  invited  to  the  high-toned  enter- 
tainments, where  cards  and  wine  and  the  waltz  shortened  the 
hours  of  midnight  and  of  the  early  morning,  and  helped  to  place 
in  full  accord  the  best  blood  of  the  Bahamas  with  the  aristocratic 
and  royal  blood  of  the  mother  country.     And  we  know  from  ob- 
servation and  experience,  wiiat  any  one  may  know  is  true  from 
the  nature  of  the  case,  that  forty-nine  out  of  fifty  strangers  so- 
journing in  Nassau  will  never  know,  except  from  report,  that 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  generous  hospitality  anywhere  upon 
the  island.     This  is  not  exceptional,  for  the  same  thing  is  and 
must  be  true  in  all  places  where  strangers  arrive  regularly  at  short 
intervals  and  in  large  numbers.     In  a  small,  poor  city,  they  con- 
stitute rich  golden  placers  to  be  sedulously  worked,  and  not  dis- 
guised angels  to  be  entertained. 

"We  all  know  by  report,  and  not  a  few  by  personal  experience, 
the  warmth  and  glow  of  a  hospitality,  noble  and  unselfish,  that 
was  indigenous  to  the  soil,  and  flourished  with  tropical  luxuriance 


298  ISLES   OF    SUMMER. 

in  many  of  the  Southern  States  in  former  times.  When  certain 
loyalists  fled  with  their  slaves  to  the  Bahamas  after  the  breaking 
out  of  the  American  revolution  of  1776  from  the  States  of  the 
Carolinas  and  Georgia,  they  carried  their  hospitality  with  them, 
and  found  that  it  flourished  better  than  cotton  upon  those  rocky 
isles.  And  no  doubt  it  still  survives,  but  circumstances  have 
greatly  changed.  While  retaining  an  allegiance  to  the  mother 
country  that,  if  mistaken,  challenges  admiration,  they  did  it 
largely  at  the  expense  of  their  fortunes,  and  at  Xassau  the  ex- 
ercise of  hospitality  on  a  large  scale,  sufficient  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  weekly  boat-loads  of  strangers,  who  are  willing  to  be 
received  with  open  arms  and  to  be  entertained  with  princely 
liberality,  would  soon  result  in  their  financial  auuihilation.  But 
any  gentleman  of  respectability  and  of  fair  social  position,  who 
is  able  and  willing  to  take  with  him  to  Nassau  a  large  supply  of 
the  choicest  wines  and  other  liquors,  will  only  need  to  let  his 
position  be  known  in  order  to  be  surrounded  with  troops  of  high- 
toned  friends,  officially  and  otherwise  well  uj)  among  the  gentry 
of  the  island.  Liquors  will  oj)en  doors  better  than  letters,  and, 
as  a  social  currency  that  will  circulate  everywhere,  even  cheek 
must  give  way  to  champagne. 

But,  as  in  the  floral  world,  the  shrubs  that  from  leaf  and  flower 
load  the  air  with  sweetest  perfumes,  seldom,  if  ever,  spring  spon- 
taneously from  the  soil  where  trade  has  established  her  thronged 
and  busy  marts,  so  it  is  in  countries  sparsely  populated,  and  sel- 
dom marked  with  the  impress  of  stranger  foot-steps,  that  the  resi- 
nous, spicy  and  aromatic  perfumes  of  a  free,  genuine  and  grate- 
ful hospitality  rise  like  incense  from  censers  sacred  and  golden. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  First  Great  Voyage  of  Colwnhus.  lie  Solves  tlie  Dark  Problem  of  the 
Ages.  His  Land  Fall.  The  Whole  Group  2dade  Forever  Memorahle.  The 
Spirits  of  Columbus  and  Black  Beard  Indelihly  Impressed  Upon  the  Islands. 
Eminently  Good  and  Bad  Men  Not  Dead  When  They  Die.  The  Natives  As 
Columbus  Found  and  Described  Them.  The  West  India  Islands  Occupied  by 
Substaiitially  One  People.  The  Caribs.  The  Search  Among  the  Bahamas 
for  the  Fountain  of  Youth. 

"  There  are  great  deeds  that  will  not  pass  away, 
And  names  that  must  not  wither,  though  the  earth 
Forgets  her  empires  with  a  Just  decay."— Byron. 

The  Bahamas  are  objects  of  great  historic  interest  to  the  whole 
civilized  world,  but  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Western  Hemi- 
sphere they  have  a  peculiar  charm.  The  life  and  voyages  of 
Christopher  Columbus,  the  son  of  a  Genoese  wool-comber,  when 
faithfully  recorded,  give  to  literature  a  treasure  of  inestimable 
value,  and  to  the  department  of  fact,  the  absorbing  attraction 
and  dazzling  brilliancy  of  liction.  For  several  weeks  after  our 
first  arrival  in  Nassau,  the  great  navigator  and  discoverer  Avas 
almost  constantly  in  mind.  While  yachting  in  the  perfectly  clear 
and  transparent  waters,  so  exquisitely  colored,  borrowing  their 
rich  hues  not  only  from  the  skies  but  from  the  white  sand  beds 
and  coral  shelves  and  reefs  over  which  they  flow,  we  thought 
how,  after  his  long  and  anxious  voyage,  he  must  have  been  im- 
pressed; and  every  ride  we  took  over  the  hard  limestone  roads, 
upon  the  island  of  Xcw  Providence,  now  looking  out  upon  the 

299 


300  ISLE3  OF  StMMER, 

neighboring  keys,  set  like  jewels  in  liquid  colors  so  peculiarly 
rich  in  shades  of  green  and  blue  that  written  language  is  too 
poor  to  furnish  terms  with  which  to  describe  them — and  then, 
turning  to  a  new  world  of  trees,  shrubs,  vines  and  flowers,  we 
seemed  to  commune  witli  that  great  spirit  of  the  past,  and  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  wonder  and  astonishment  with  which  his  mind 
was  absorbed  and  filled,  when,  nearly  four  hundred,  years  ago,  he 
preceded  us  in  making  the  acquaintance  of  those  fairy  isles  in 
that  dreamy  and  seemingly  unreal  part  of  the  world.  Indeed, 
at  times,  it  seemed  as  if  we  could  almost  feel  the  gaze  of  his  gray, 
thoughtful  and  prophetic  eyes. 

The  foot-fall  of  the  great  Genoese  discoverer  upon  one  of  the 
long,  low,  Bahama  islands,  has  ennobled  the  whole  group.  The 
subtle  influence  of  that  grand  historic  event  pervades  the  sur- 
rounding air,  and  imparts  a  brilliant  and  prismatic  radiance  to 
objects  in  other  respects  insignificant.  The  woods  and  waters, 
the  flowering  shrubs,  the  climl)ing  vines,  the  trees  with  their 
y.'ich.  glossy  foliage  and  luscious  and  golden  fruits,  and  even  the 
sable  forms  and  faces  of  the  happy  negroes,  glow  with  an  added 
lustre  in  the  light  of  that  ever  memorable  event.  Were  those 
coral  isles  to-morrow  "in  the  deep  bosom  of  the  ocean  buried,'' 
their  memory  would  remain,  for  the  Genius  of  History  will  ever 
keep  and  guard  it  in  her  imperishable  archives.  Ocean  has  no 
abyss  deep  and  dark  enough  to  liido  it  from  the  view  of  the  men 
of  the  future. 

A  dial3olical  presence  also — the  ghosts  of  bad  men  who  have 
passed  away — seems  at  times,  even  in  our  day,  to  lurk  in  the 
shadows,  and  to  infect  with  distrust  the  light,  upon  the  island 
of  Xew  Providence.  Strong  natures  cannot  be  wholly  shut  up 
in  hades.  It  is  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  since  Black 
Beard  rendezvoued  at  Nassau,  and  held  his  court  under  one  of 
its  trees.     No  robber  of  the  sea,  ancient  or  modern,  surpassed 


liim  in  courage,  in  cruelty  or  in  crime.  Columbus,  by  simply 
skirting  the  shores  and  landing  ui)on  one  of  the  summer  isles, 
secured  for  the  whole  group  an  immortality  of  fame.  Black 
Beard  infected  them  with  an  infamy  as  enduring  as  the  memory 
of  his  crimes.  The  foot-fall  of  one  hallowed  the  coralline  rocks, 
the  presence  of  the  other  so  polluted  the  air  as  to  permanently 
give  to  it  the  shadowy  gloom  of  a  lurking  fear.  The  most  charm- 
insf  flower  bed  loses  much  of  its  frao^rance  and  beauty  as  soon  as 
it  is  known  that  a  serpent  has  nestled  there. 

Death  cannot  wholly  destroy  men  who  are  good  and  great. 
They  are  not  dead  when  they  die.  They  enter  upon  that  journey 
where  the  travel  is  all  one  way,  and  yet  do  not  wholly  leave  us. 
Their  suns  descend  behind  the  hills,  but  a  zodiacal  light  still 
lingers  in  the  heavens.  So  when  earth's  moral  monsters  pass 
away,  shadows  dark  and  chilly  are  for  centuries  projected  into 
the  sunlight.  Hence  we  observed,  that  over  the  bright  and  beau- 
tiful waters,  and  along  the  shining  shores  of  the  emerald  isles, 
the  soft  air  is  even  now  impregnated  with  amoral  poison dei'ived 
from  pirates  who  have  been  dead  more  than  a  hundred  years. 

In  the  Old  World  the  traveler  is  often  so  occupied  with  the 
relics,  monuments,  history,  traditions  and  legends  of  a  past 
hoary  and  venerable  with  age,  that  he  is  inclined  to  overlook  the 
])resent.  In  the  new  world  the  dark  and  imponctrablo  shadows 
extend  to  modern  times,  and  leave  but  a  few  centuries  for  the 
historic  period.  But  even  rontcm])()raiu'()us  history  is  not  wholly 
reliable,  because  of  the  bad  habit  of  covering  with  the  gay  robes 
and  bright  ribbons  of  fiction,  the  simplicity  and  nakedness  of 
I  ruth. 

It  was  upon  Friday,  (a  day  which  superstition  has  branded  as 
unlucky)  August  3d,  1402,  at  eight  o'clock  A.  m.,  that  Columbus 
with  his  three  caravals,  two  of  which  were  only  decked  fore  and 
aft,  sailed  from  Palos  upon  what  the  world  generally  believed 

^6 


30^  iSLKs  OF  sr^rifEn. 

to  be  a  *' fool's  errand."  Reaching  the  Canaries  in  safety,  he 
left  Gomora  on  the  Cth  of  September.  At  10  o'clock  p.  m..  Oc- 
tober 11th,  A.  D.  1493,  Columbus  saw  or  supposed  he  saw  a  moT- 
ing  light  gleaming  fitfully  in  the  darkness.  For  three  Aveeks, 
Herons,  Pelicans  and  several  other  species  of  birds,  had  appeared 
in  sight  almost  daily,  as  if  to  cheer  and  welcome  him  on  his 
lonely  way.  Some  even  alighted  on  his  vessels,  and  were  hailed 
as  the  bearers  of  good  tidings.  Other  mute,  but  most  reliable 
witnesses,  in  constantly  increasing  numbers,  had  been  encountered 
by  his  caravals,  floating  in  the  calm,  warm  waters,  and  had  con- 
veyed to  him  the  Joyful  intelligence  that  the  great  object  of  his 
search  was  near  at  hand.  Four  hours  later,  a  gun  fired  from  the 
Pinta,  the  vessel  that  led  the  little  fleet,  conveyed  the  thrilling 
intelligence  that  terra  firma  itself  was  actually  in  sight.  In 
that  supreme  moment  of  his  triumph  a  wild  intoxication  would 
have  possessed  a  less  lofty  and  heroic  mind.  The  inspired  proph- 
et of  the  fifteenth  century,  casting  his  eyes  upwards,  humbly 
returned  his  thanks  to  that  Divine  Being  that  had  enlightened, 
sustained,  guided  and  protected  him  in  the  great  work  to  which 
he  had  devoted  himself  for  so  many  years,  and  for  the  brilliant 
success  with  which  at  last  his  labors  were  crowned. 

The  author  of  the  ''Land  Fall  of  Columbus"  has,  with  great 
boldness  and  apparent  success,  attacked  the  opinion  heretofore 
so  generally  conceded  to  be  true,  that  Columbus  first  landed  upon 
the  present  island  of  St.  Salvador,  (sometimes  called  Cat  Island.) 
The  old  belief  received  the  endorsement  of  Washington  Irving, 
(who  did  not  deem  it  best  ''to  disturb  the  ancient  landmarks,") 
and  also  of  Baron  Humboldt,  but  the  author  of  the  "  Land  Fall " 
has  reproduced  the  original  text  of  the  journal  which  Columbus 
kept  of  his  first  voyage  of  discovery,  as  embodied  in  the  letters 
which  he  wrote  at  the  time,  closely  and  critically  examined  its 
statements,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  modern  official  charts, 


THE  LAKD   FALL  OF   COLUMBTTS.  303 

carefully  followed  the  great  navigator's  every  movement,  as  min- 
utely described  by  himself,  from  his  first  landing  upon  the  island 
Avliich  the  natives  called  Guanahani,  until  he  anchored  off  the 
island  of  Cuba.  He  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  Columbus 
first  landed  upon  "Watling's  Island  and  named  it  San  Salvador, 
and  that  he  did  not  visit  at  all  the  island  now  known  by  that 
name.  After  carefully  considering  the  facts  which  lead  to  this 
result,  we  are  clearly  of  the  opinion  the  author  of  the  ''Land 
Fall "  is  entitled  to  the  credit  of  exposing  a  great  historical  error 
after  it  had  received  the  sanction  of  eminent  writers,  and  been 
hallowed  by  time. 

Watling's  Island  is  one  of  the  Bahamas,  and  nearly  or  quite  two 
hundred  miles  distant  in  a  north-easterly  direction  from  Nassau. 
The  great  importance  of  this  discovery  as  seenin  the  light  of  the 
four  centuries  which  will  soon  be  completed — so  apparent  to  us — 
far  exceeds  all  that  Columbus  had  imagined  in  his  wildest  dreams. 
No  wonder  that  Europe  was  thrown  into  a  ferment  of  intense 
excitement  when  the  intelligence  of  his  wonderful  success  was 
made  known.  Many  a  long  cycle  of  a  thousand  years  had  been 
completed,  during  all  which  time  no  human  being,  standing  upon 
the  eastern  shores  of  the  Atlantic,  could  discern  anything  in  or  be- 
yond the  illimitable  waste  of  waters  but  a  Great  Unknown.  A 
deep  and  profound  mystery,  like  the  pall  of  the  darkest  night, 
ever  brooded  over  the  billows  that  received  the  setting  sun. 
Philosophers  gazed  but  to  speculate,  men  of  fervid  imaginations 
to  dream,  and  poets,  in  measured  numbers,  to  sing  tlieir  weird 
and  wildest  songs. 

Upon  the  banks  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates, — in  Abyssinia 
and  Upper  Egypt, — down  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Nile, — and 
upon  both  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  civilization,  empire 
and  imperial  power  had  for  thousands  of  years  made  their  slow 
but  grand  and  solemn  march,  only  to  be  at  last  barred  and  baffled 
by  a  vast  and  unknown  waste  of  waters. 


804  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

Columbus,  with  his  little  fleet  of  three  vessels,  solved  the  prob- 
lem of  the  ages,  dispelled  the  deep  and  profound  mystery,  and 
bridged  the  dark  and  unfathomable  abyss.  Landing  upon  the 
Bahamas,  he  impregnated  the  newly  found  Western  world  with 
the  seminal  principles  of  the  old  Eastern  civilization.  This  clus- 
ter of  keys  and  islands  constitute  the  cradle  in  which  Young 
America,  with  all  his  inventions  and  revolutionary  ideas  in  em- 
bryo, was  first  rocked.  How  murky  were  the  shadows  that  four 
centuries  ago  shrouded  equally  the  Christian  church  and  the  most 
famous  institutions  of  learning!  Out  of  them  the  tall  and  com- 
manding form  of  Columbus  rises,  radiant  with  an  effulgence  that 
seems  divine,  ennobled  and  glorified  by  great  truths  in  advance 
of  his  age.  For  eighteen  long  years  he  bore  with  marvelous  forti- 
tude and  equanimity  the  unsupplied  and  pressing  wants  which 
his  poverty  engendered,  the  delusive  and  broken  jiromises  of 
kings,  the  mistaken  fears  and  bigotry  of  the  good,  the  narrow- 
mindedness  of  the  learned,  and  the  ridicule  and  contempt,  the 
scoffs  and  jeers  of  the  ignorant  and  doubting  world. 

The  lesson  of  Columbus  should  never  be  forgotten  by  the  emi- 
nent theologians  and  divines  who  minister  at  the  altars  of  religion, 
and  guard  its  j^rofound  mysteries  in  their  small  but  saered  arks; 
nor  by  the  votaries  of  science,  who  seem,  while  they  explore  the 
wonderful  phenomena  of  nature,  as  disclosed  uj^on  our  earth,  or 
travel  among  the  stars,  to  literally  'Mvalk  with  God."  Let  them 
ever  remember  that  outside  of  cloistered  cells  and  institutions 
richly  endowed  and  furnished,  in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  the 
most  valuable  germs  of  progress  will  probably  be  found;  that  no 
proposition  should  be  ignored  because  it  is  bold  and  startling;  no 
truth  ostracised  because  it  is  new.  At  the  same  time  it  may  be 
well  for  some  of  the  long  haired,  unshaved,  and  unkempt  seers 
of  our  day,  who  have,  as  they  think,  some  great  revolutionary 
and  reformatory  mission  to  fulfill,  to  consider  that  it  may  not  be 


THE    BAHAMA    INDIAlsrg.  305 

less  than  two  or  three  thousands  of  years  before  another  Colum- 
bus will  be  born,  and  that  like  rank  and  noxious  weeds  in  a  good 
garden,  superstition  and  error  had  root  and  flourished  by  the  side 
of  truth  in  the  mind  of  the  great  discoverer  of  the  New  World. 

Mr.  Moseley,  in  his  Nassau  Almanac,  states  that  Columbus 
visited  New  Providence  and  called  the  island  Fcrnandina,  in 
honor  of  the  king  of  Spain.  This  is  very  clearly  a  mistake. 
The  author  of  the  Land  Fall  agrees  with  Washington  Irving  that 
Exuma  is  the  island  which  Columbus  thus  discovered  and  named. 
If  we  remember  rightly,  Bruce  makes  the  same  mistake  in  his 
Memoirs. 

The  visitor  at  Nassau  has  ample  time  to  muse  and  meditate. 
He  is  not  wholly  satisfied  with  the  present.  Looking  at  the  dark 
murky  shadows  lying  back  of  a  few  hundred  years  that  cnveloj^e 
human  history  upon  these  islands,  he  asks  the  tangled  woods, 
the  coralline  hills,  the  rude  water-worn  caverns,  and  the  shell- 
strewn  and  honey-combed  shores — What  OF  the  Past?  There 
is  no  response.  Neither  records  nor  ruins  furnish  even  historic 
riddles  for  its  solution.  Let  us,  therefore,  stand  where  Colum- 
l)us  and  his  companions  stood  in  October,  1402,  and  listen  while 
he  gives  to  his  sovereign  a  description  of  what  ho  then  saw.  We 
copy  from  his  epistolary  journal  under  date  of  the  13th  of  Octo- 
ber, the  day  after  his  ''Land  Fall:" 

"  All  wei'c  young  persons,  as  I  said  before,  and  of  good  stature, 
and  withal  handsome,  who  came  to  the  shore.  The  hair  of  these 
islanders  is  not  crisp  or  wooly,  but  long  and  straiglit  like  that  of 
Asiatics.  The  forehead  is  wide,  more  so,  indeed,  than  any  peo- 
ple I  have  yet  seen.  Tliey  have  large  handsome  eyes,  and  ai'c 
not  black,  l)ut  of  the  color  of  Canaries,  as  might  be  expected, 
since  they  are  due  west  from  the  island  of  Ilierro,  one  of  that 
group.  They  are  all  well  made,  even  to  their  hands;  not  pot- 
bellied, but  exceedingly  well  formed. 


306  isLfis  OP  suMMEit. 

"  They  came  to  the  ship  in  canoes,  formed  from  the  trunk  of 
a  tree,  as  long  as  a  boat,  and  all  from  one  log,  curiously  worked 
after  their  own  fashion,  and  large  enough  to  carry  forty  or  fifty 
persons.  Others  they  have,  also,  sufRciont  to  contain  cue  per- 
son. They  are  propelled  by  a  paddle  shaped  like  a  baker's  shovel, 
and  glide  al)out  rapidly.  They  overturn  and  right  them  again 
when  on  the  water,  emptying  them  with  calil)ashes  which  they 
have  always  with  them.-  They  bring  balls  of  cotton  thread,  and 
other  things  too  numerous  to  mention,  and  would  exchange  them 
for  anything  in  return.  I  watched  them  very  narrowly,  to  see 
if  they  had  any  gold,  but  could  only  see  that  they  had  a  little 
piece  hanging  from  the  nose." 

In  a  subsequent  letter  he  writes:  •''  They  swam  out  to  our  boats, 
bringing  parrots  and  balls  of  cotton  thread,  with  spears  and  sev- 
eral other  things,  all  of  which  they  exchanged  for  what  we  chose 
to  give  them — glass  beads  and  hawk's  bills.  In  fact  we  traded 
together  most  amicably,  but  they  appeared  to  be  a  very  poor  race 
of  people,  deficient  in  many  things.  They  go  about  naked  as 
they  were  born,  the  women  also,  although  I  did  not  see  but  one 
[old]  young  one.  Cndeed  every  one  that  I  saw  was  young;  every 
one  appeared  to  be  under  thirty  years  of  age. 

''The  hair  of  some  was  thick  and  long,  like  the  tail  of  a  horse. 
The  hair  of  some  was  short,  brought  forward  over  the  eye-brows; 
some  wearing  it  long  and  never  cutting  it.  Some  again  are 
painted,  and  the  hue  of  their  skin  is  similar  in  color  to  the  Cana- 
ries— not  black  nor  white.  Some  are  painted  white,  and  some 
red,  or  any  other  color.  Some  paint  only  their  faces,  and  others 
their  whole  person,  and  some  only  their  eyes  and  noses. 

"They  have  no  weapons  and  appear  to  know  of  none,  for  I 
showed  them  swords,  and  they  took  them  by  the  blade  and  cut 
themselves  from  sheer  ignorance.  They  have  no  iron.  Their 
spears  are  long,  and  instead  of  iron  are  pointed  with  the  teeth  of 


t)ESCk]!]^iONS   BY   COLlfMBirS.  30t 

a  fish,  and  such  hard  substances. "  He  says  that  some  had  scars, 
caused  by  wounds  received  when  repelling  invaders,  (Caribs  un- 
doubtedly. ) 

'^  This  is  a  tolerably  large  island,  very  level,  with  pine  trees 
and  plenty  of  water,  and  a  large  lake  in  the  middle  of  it,  without 
mountains,  all  covered  with  verdure  which  is  pleasant  to  the 
eye. 

"These  people  are  very  amiable,  and  desirous  of  having  our 
things,  for  when  they  have  nothing  to  give  us  for  them,  they 
take  what  they  can  and  jump  into  the  water  and  swim  off  with 
it.  But  anything  they  have  they  give  us  readily  for  whatever 
we  will  exchange  for  it.  They  will  even  barter  for  broken  crock- 
ery and  glass. " 

Upon  going  to  another  part  of  the  island,  when  the  people  saw 
the  Spaniards  were  not  going  to  land,  some  of  them,  he  says, 
''rushed  into  the  sea  and  swam  out  to  us,  and  we  understood 
them  to  ask  if  we  had  come  from  the  skies.  One  old  ma^  even 
got  on  to  the  boat,  and  others,  men  and  women,  called  out  at  the 
top  of  their  voices — *  come  and  see  the  men  who  have  come  from 
the  skies;  bring  them  something  to  eat  and  drink.' 

''They  are  a  simplo-mindcd  and  handsomely  formed  race. 

"I  went  after  a  canoe  which  shot  away  faster  than  any  boat 
could;  for  speed  they  have  great  advantage  over  us." 

Again  he  writes:  "  The  islands  are  very  fertile,  and  have  a  fine 
air. 

"I  saw  even  cotton  cloth,  made  like  mantles,  and  the  people 
appeared  more  orderly,  and  the  women  wore  a  piec(!  of  cloth, 
which,  however,  scarcely  concealed  their  sex. 

"There  appears  to  bo  no  kind  of  religion  among  them." 

He  also  speaks  of  the  fishes  as  "of  the  most  beautiful  colorsr 
as  if  painted  of  a  thousand  different  hues,  and  so  brilliant  that 
they  astonish  every  one,  who,  on  this  account,  is  anxious  to  see 


80^  ISttlR   OF   ftPMMEtt. 

them.  There  are  whales,  also  parrots  and  lizzards,  but  of  boasts 
I  have  seen  none."" 

Again  he  says:  "  The  people,  one  with  another,  arc  all  of  the 
same  race,  naked  alike,  and  of  the  same  stature. 

'"  *  *  *  Our  men,  who  had  gone  for  water,  told  mo  they 
went  into  their  houses,  which  they  found  swept  very  clean,  and 
that  their  beds  and  furniture  were  of  cotton  net.  Their  houses 
are  like  tents,  and  of  a  good  height,  with  chimneys.  But  I  have 
not  seen  among  the  many  settlements  I  have  met  with,  any  one 
with  more  than  twelve  to  fifteen  houses."" 

Again:  "The  married  women  Avear  cotton  aprons,  but  the 
girls  none,  excepting  some  above  eighteen  years  of  age."  One 
man  "  had  a  piece  of  gold  in  his  nose  about  the  size  of  a  half 
dollar. 

"Yonr  highness  may  depend  that  this  country  is  the  most 
fertile,  temperate,  and  even  there  is  in  the  world. " 

*'My  eye  can  never  tire  admiring  so  much  beautiful  verdure, 
and  so  different  from  ours  too. 

"And  the  singing  of  the  birds,  and  the  (locks  of  parrots  which 
arc  so  numerous  as  to  obscure  the  sky,  are  so  delightful  that  no 
one  could  desire  to  leave  it.  The  birds  are  so  numerous,  and  so 
different  from  ours  that  it  is  quite  wonderful.  And  there  are  a 
thousand  different  kind  of  trees,  and  all  with  fruit  and  delicious 
perfume. " 

Under  date  of  October  22d,  1492,  he  writes:  "And  many 
natives  came  to  see  us,  similar  to  those  of  the  other  islands,  all 
naked  and  painted,  some  white,  some  red.  some  black,  after  their 
fashion.  They  brought  spears  and  some  cotton  balls  for  trade. 
*     *     *    Some  of  them  wore  bits  of  gold  in  their  noses." 

The  West  Indian  islands  include  the  Bahamas,  and,  when  dis- 
covered by  the  Spaniard  •<,  they  were  occupied  by  substantially 
one  people.     There  existed  minor  differences,  the  results  of  their 


THE   ABORIGINES   OF  THE   WEST  INDIES.  309 

separation,  but  the  early  writers  give  tliem  a  common  description. 
The  Caribbean  Islands  were  inhabited  by  a  very  different  people. 
The  two  races  were  no  doubt  off-shoots  from  different  portions 
of  the  neighboring  continent.  While  the  Caribs  were  bold,  rug- 
ged, aggressive  and  warlike,  the  former  were  amiable,  docile, 
-kind-hearted,  generous  and  affectionate,  and  only  fought  Avhen 
driven  to  it  by  the  instinct  of  self-iDreservation.  The  contrast 
was  that  of  the  wolf  and  the  lamb.  The  blood  of  the  Caribs  had 
not  been  exposed  to  the  soothing  influences  of  the  atmosphere  of 
their  island  homes  long  enough  to  have  eliminated  the  cruel 
and  savage  taint  it  acquired  in  the  cold,  bleak,  barren  region 
where  it  no  doubt  received  its  race-mark.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
"West  Indies  were  confiding,  frank,  gentle  and  good-natured.  The 
sexual  passion  was  strong.  "  Love  with  this  happy  people  was 
not  a  transient  and  fitful  ardor  only,  but  the  source  of  all  their 
pleasures,  and  the  chief  business  of  life.  *  *  *  They  gave 
full  indulgence  to  the  instincts  of  nature,  while  the  influence  of 
the  climate  heightened  the  sensibility  of  the  passions." 

'*  They  had  less  strength  and  endurance  than  the  Spaniards. 
Their  limbs  were-  jDliant  and  active,  and  in  their  motions  they 
displayed  both  gracefulness  and  ease.  They  were  expert  divers, 
and  their  agility  was  eminently  conspicuous  in  their  dances, 
wherein  they  delighted  and  excelled,  devoting  the  cool  hours  of 
night  to  this  employment.  It  was  their  custom  to  dance  from 
evening  to  dawn."  Herrera  says  that  their  public  dances,  (for 
they  had  others  highly  licentious,)  were  appropriated  to  jjarticular 
solemnities,  and  being  accompanied  with  historical  songs,  were 
called  Arretoes. 

They  had  an  elastic  ball  game  like  that  of  cricket,  which  Avas 
called  Bato.  The  bull  avus  not  caught  in  the  hand,  or  returned 
Avith  an  instrument,  but  received  on  the  head,  the  elbow  or  foot, 
"and  the  dexterity  and  force  Avith  Avhicli  it  was  repelled  was  as- 
tonishing and  inimitable." 


310  ISLES  OF  SUMMER 

"They  had  remarkable  sweetness  of  temper,  and  native  good- 
ness of  disposition."  "All  writers  agree  they  were  unrjuestion- 
ably  the  most  gentle  and  benevolent  of  the  human  race." 

To  their  superiors  they  were  submissive  and  respectful;  to 
their  enemies  forgiving;  while  for  their  ancestors  in  spirit  land 
they  entertained  an  undying  affection. 

Superstition,  that  old  inhabitant  of  earth,  indigenous  in  all 
climes,  and  existing  in  all  ages,  was  domiciled  upon  the  coral 
islands  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  discovery,  and  was  as  activfe 
as  the  indolent  character  of  the  climate  permitted  in  forging 
fetters  for  the  human  mind,  and  holding  men  in  bondage  to  fear. 
Priests  performed  ridiculous  rites  and  ceremonies,  inter2)reted 
the  decrees  and  communicated  the  messages  of  deities  whose  evil 
designs  they  sought  to  placate  with  prayer.  They  were  also  the 
medical  attendants  of  the  sick.  The  union  of  the  clerical  and 
medical  professions  is  to  be  expected  wherever  disease  is  believed 
to  be  the  result  of  diabolical  agencies,  and  not  the  executed  pen- 
alty for  violated  physical  laws. 

The  islanders  believed  that  the  heaven  which  awaited  the  good 
after  death,  was  a  pleasant  valley  of  luxurious  repose  and  indo- 
lent tranquility — of  cool  shades  and  murmuring  brooks,  abound- 
ing in  guavas  and  other  delicious  fruits,  never  scorched  by  drough  t 
or  desolated  by  the  hurricane.  Its  chief  hapjjiness  consisted  in 
a  re-union,  forever  indissoluble,  with  the  loved  friends  and  re- 
vered ancestors  from  Avhoni  they  had  been  separated  by  death. 

They  believed  in  one  Supreme  Being,  and  in  many  lesser 
divinities,  but  sought  to  win  the  favor  of  the  demons  who  were 
permitted  to  rule  and  desolate  their  island  world,  by  worshiping 
hideous  idols  which  symbolized  their  unseen  presence,  and  clearly 
manifested  diabolical  power. 

The  authority  of  their  caziques  was  hereditary,  and  it  has  been 
claimed  that,  in  determining  the  succession,  the  children  of  a 


THE   ABORIGIXES.  Bll 

cazique's  sisters  were  preferred  on  account  of  the  greater  certainty 
of  royal  blood.  The  sovereigns  were  looked  np  to  with  reverence 
and  obeyed  with  submission.  Royal  ornaments,  numerous  at- 
tendants, and  a  multitude  of  wives  attested  their  royal  power. 
Heroic  songs,  hymns  of  praise,  public  dances  of  honor,  together 
with  the  notes  of  musical  instruments  made  of  shells,  and  the 
deafening  noise  of  rude  drums,  formed  a  part  of  their  funeral 
obsequies. 

The  Bahamas  interested  but  did  not  satisfy  the  the  Spaniards. 
They  sought  in  vain  in  the  coralline  rocks  for  the  golden  ores 
that  gilded  their  fevered  dreams.     The  passion  for 

"Gold:  Gold!  Gold:  Gold! 
Bright  and  yellow,  hard  and  cold," 

was  all  pervading,  and  so  absorbing  and  intense  that  they  seemed 
dead  to  every  tender  sentiment  and  ennobling  impulse.  For  a 
time  poverty  did  for  the  islanders  more  than  the  greatest  riches 
could  have  accomplished — peace  and  security,  and  the  strange 
visitors  whom  they  were  ready  to  worship  as  divine,  departed. 

Guileless,  unsuspecting,  generous  and  unselfish  themselves, 
how  could  these  aborigines  understand  the  wonderful  beings,  who, 
from  the  vast  solitudes  of  an  illimitable  ocean,  had  suddenly. 
landed  upon  their  picturesque  shores?  In  the  distant  east  from 
whence  the  strangers  had  come,  only  the  morning  sun,  in  golden 
effulgence,  had  ever  before  emerged.  Were  not  these  then,  the 
children  of  the  sun  ?  Had  they  not  all  of  the  divine  and  none 
of  the  human?  No  wonder,  that  as  Herrera  states,  they  were 
at  first  never  satisfied  with  looking  at  the'  Spaniards,  but  knelt, 
lifted  up  their  hands  and  gave  thanks  to  God,  calling  upon  each 
other  to  admire  the  heavenly  men! 

Afterwards,  a  new  and  strange  interest  invested  these  islands 


312  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

of  perpetual  and  unfading  verdure.  It  was  reiDorted  and  believed 
by  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon  and  otlier  bold  navigators,  that  upon  one 
of  them  existed  water  medicated  and  endowed  by  nature  with 
most  wonderful  potency.  In  tangled  wood  or  rocky  cavern,  bub- 
bled in  the  shadows  or  sparkled  in  the  sunlight,  that  old  dream 
of  the  ages — the  fountain  of  jjerpetual  youth;  and  men  toiled, 
suffered,  sickened  and  died  in  the  vain  search  for  the  wonderful 
waters  of  immortality.  It  is  indeed  fortunate  for  the  world,  con- 
sidering the  infamous  character  of  many  of  those  Spanish  adven- 
turers, that  this  pleasing  dream  had  no  basis  of  faot  upon  which 
to  rest. 

It  has  not  been  considered  very  strange,  in  an  age  which  teemed 
with  marvels  of  fact  which  tax  transcended  in  interest,  novelty 
and  importance,  the  wildest  conceptions  of  the  imagination,  that 
men  of  intelligence  implicitly  believed  in  the  existence  of 

"A  bright  floral  isle, 
The  jewel  of  a  smooth  and  silver  sea, 

"With  springs  iu  which  perennial  summers  smile, 
A  power  of  causing  immortality;" 

and  that  some  were  willing  to  risk  their  money  and  their  lives  in 
efforts  to  discover  it.  But  the  thread  of  life  upon  which  these 
dreamers  were  suspended,  continued  to  weaken  as  it  shortened, 
and  they  soon  found,  as  a  practical  fact,  that  the  rejuvenating 
spring  is  situated  upon  the  other  side  of  the  dark  tuibrd  waters 
of  the  river  of  death. 


II' 


>       > 


-Bay  Street,  west  end  of  Nassau. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Spanish  Perfidy  and  Cruelty.  The  Natives  by  Force  and  Fraud  are  Ca/r- 
ried  to  Hispaniola  and  Perish  in  its  Mines.  The  Islands  without  inhabitants. 
An  English  Captain  Discovers  New  Providence.  George  III  of  England 
makes  a  Royal  Grant  of  the  Bahamas  to  six  Proprietors.  Pirates  Infest  the 
Islands.  Black  Beard.  Hs  EjixbUsJies  Himsslf  Upon  New  Providence.  The 
Early  Governors.  Summary  Punishment  inflicted  by  the  Spaniards,  and  by 
the  French  and  Spaniards.  Nassau  Built  and  Named  in  1694.  The  British 
Government  Purchase  the  Proprietary  Title  to  the  Islands.  Nassau  is  Cap- 
tured and  Abandoned  by  the  Americans  Under  Commodore  Hopkins.  In  1781 
it  is  Captured  and  Garrisoned  by  the  Spaniards.  It  is  He-taken  by  American 
Loyalists.     Th£  Abolition  of  Slaxiery. 

"  O  nature!  what  hadst  thou  to  do  in  hell, 
When  thou  didst  bovver  the  spirit  of  a  fiend 
In  such  a  paradise?"— Shakespeaee. 

"I  do  not  give  you  to  Posterity  as  a  pattern  to  iroitate,  but  an 
example  to  deter." — Juxius. 

CoLUMBrs  was  a  zealous  member  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and 
his  mind  seemed  ever  imbued  with  a  strong  religious  sentiment. 
Religious  zeal  did  much  to  encourage  him  to  undertake  and  prose- 
cute with  tireless  energy  and  unwavering  faith  his  voyages  of 
discovery.  He  believed  himself  raised  up  by  Divine  Providence 
for  the  purpose  of  communicating  to  the  heathen  a  knowledge 
of  the  true  God.  But  his  royal  master,  Ferdinand  of  Spain, 
saw  in  the  amiable,  credulous  and  confiding  Bahama  Indians 
not  men  having  immortal  souls  to  be  savci,  but  only  living 
mechanisms  capable  of  being  stolen  and  utilized  in  money  mak- 
813  27 


314  ISLES   OF   SUMMEE. 

ing.  He  did  not  merely  tarnish  his  reputation,  but  he  earned 
for  himself  eternal  infamy,  and  the  scorn  and  contempt  of  good 
men  in  all  future  times,  by  a  royal  order  under  which  the  entire 
native  population  of  the  Bahamas  were  conveyed  to  Hispaniola, 
and  forced  to  labor  in  its  mines.  The  removal  was  brought  about 
by  the  grossest  fraud.  The  '' children  of  the  sun"  promised  to 
take  them  to  those  Elysian  isles  where  they  could  enjoy  the  society 
of  their  dead  ancestors,  and  revel  with  them  in  supreme  and  never 
ending  delights.  Subjected  to  tasks  to  which  they  were  unaccus- 
tomed, andfor  which  they  were  unfitted,  disappointed  and  broken 
hearted,  it  did  not  require  many  years  for  death  to  do  for  them 
all  that  the  Spaniards  had  promised; 

*•'  The  whole  race  sank  beneath  the  oppressor's  rod. 
And  left  a  blank  among  the  works  of  God." 

The  "heavenly  men"  proved  to  be  greater  demons  than  any 
those  unfortunate  islanders  had  ever,  by  prayer  and  sacrifice, 
endeavored  to  appease  and  conciliate. 

For  a  time  the  Bahamas  were  without  human  inhabitants; 

"  Still  nature  spread  her  fruitful  sweetness  round. 
Breathed  on  the  air,  and  brooded  on  the  ground." 

The  fairy  isles  lost  nothing  of  their  charming  loveliness;  the 
Boft,  perfumed,  and  medicated  air  retained  all  its  healing  and 
attractive  qualities;  while  the  ocean  kissed  with  its  crested  waves 
the  white  beaches  and  honey-combed  shores,  and  ceaselessly 
uttered  its  regretful  murmurs. 

Capt.  William  Sayle,  an  English  navigator,  entered  the  harbor 
of  Nassau  in  the  year  1607,  and  gave  to  the  island  of  Xew  Provi- 
dence its  present  name,  in  commemoration  of  his  escape  from 
threatened  shipwreck.     England  claimed  the  Bahamas  as  an 


BAHAMA   PIE  AXES.  315 

appendage  of  the  British  crown,  upon  the  ground  of  his  discovery, 
although  mora  than  a  liundred  years  before  Oohimbus  had  made 
the  acquaintance  of  some  of  them,  sailed  through  the  group,  and 
claimed  all  for  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  Soon  after  this  alleged 
discovery  by  Capt.  Sayle,  Charles  the  Second  of  England  made 
a  royal  grant  of  all  the  Bahamas,  including  the  islands  which 
Columbus  visited  in  1492,  to  the  Diike  of  Albemarle,  Lord  Craven, 
Sir  John  Caterel,  Lord  Berkley,  Lord  Sibley,  and  Sir  Peter  Cole- 
ton — the  proprietors  of  Carolina;  who  did  very  little  for  the 
islands  which  was  of  any  service  to  England  or  to  themselves. 

Afterwards,  the  outlaws  of  civilization  and  savages  of  the  sea, 
frequented  the  islands,  and  made  them  the  center  of  their  hostile 
operations  against  the  commerce  of  the  world.  With  vessels  of 
light  draft,  they  mastered  the  intricacies  of  the  tortuous  clian- 
nels,  and  made  themselves  familiar  with  the  points  of  special 
danger,  the  safest  lines  of  approach  and  retreat,  the  harbors  of 
refuge,  the  best  places  for  concealment,  and  the  strongholds  of 
defense.  Xo  light-houses,  buoys  or  reliable  charts  warned  the 
mariner,  or  guided  him  in  his  course  over  the  perilous  waters. 
Countless  rocks  and  reefs,  extensive  shoals  and  banks,  intricate 
currents  and  cross-currents,  severe  storms,  and  an  occasional 
hurricane,  would  seem  to  have  been  sufficient  without  the  still 
more  fearful  peril  of  armed  and  demoniac  brigands  of  the  sea. 

The  pirates  who  succeeded  the  original  inhabitants  must  have 
been  lineally  descended  from  the  early  inhabitants  of  England, 
if  the  following  description  of  the  latter  by  Greene  is  to  be  credi- 
ted: "  From  the  first,  the  daring  of  the  English  race  broke  out 
in  the  secrecy  and  suddenness  of  the  pirate's  swoo}),  in  the  fierce- 
ness of  their  onset,  in  the  careless  glee  with  which  they  seized 
either  sword  or  oar.  'Foes  are  they,'  sang  a  Koman  poet  of  the 
time,  'fierce  beyond  other  foes,  and  cunning  as  they  are  fierce; 
the  sea  is  their  school  of  waj",  and  the  storm  their  friend;  they 
are  sea-wolves  that  prey  on  the  pillage  of  tiie  world.'  " 


316  ISLES   or  SUMMER. 

The  most  violent  of  the  sea-wolves  that  infested  the  waters  of 
the  Bahamas,  and  the  neighboring  seas,  was  a  native  of  Bristol, 
England,  by  the  name  of  Edward  Tench.  The  historic  name  of 
Black  Beard  was  conferred  upon  him  by  his  cotemporaries  on 
account  of  the  color  and  quantity  of  hair  which  helped  so  much 
to  give  him  a  wild  and  savage  appearance.  He  first  made  himself 
felt  and  feared  as  a  privateer.  Sailing  in  that  capacity  in  the 
early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  from  the  island  of  Jamaica, 
he  soon  distinguished  himself  by  his  daring  intrepidity  and  reck- 
less courage.  Between  privateering  and  piracy  there  is  but  a 
single  short  step.  A  little  practice  in  capturing,  robbing  and 
destroying  the  merchant  ships  of  one  nation,  is  a  good  prepara- 
tory and  training  school,  in  which  an  apt  scholar,  like  Tench,  is 
soon  prepared  for  the  business  of  waging  merciless  war  on  the 
commerce  of  the  world. 

Black  Beard  soon  had  a  piratical  fleet  well  manned  and  power- 
fully armed,  which,  for  a  short  time,  was  a  terror  to  all  honest 
men  who  frequented  the  West  India  Islands  or  the  neighboring 
shores  of  the  main  land.  His  audacity  and  power  are  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  the  city  of  Charleston  was  once  coerced  into 
furnishing  him  with  a  valuable  supply  of  medical  stores,  by  the 
assurance  that  if  his  demands  were  refused,  he  would  burn  the 
vessels  and  kill  the  prisoners  then  in  his  possession  which  he  had 
captured,  and  send  the  heads  of  the  latter  to  the  Governor  of 
South  Carolina.  He  was  finally  hunted  down  and  killed  in  a 
bloody  hand  to  hand  fight  among  the  inlets  of  North  Carolina. 

It  is  difficult  at  the  present  day  to  realize  the  extent  and  char- 
acter of  the  peril  from,  pirates  to  which  a  century  and  a-half  ago 
persons  were  subjected  who  sailed  in  the  waters  Avhich  penetrate 
or  surround  the  Bahamas.  The  black  flag  with  its  death's  head 
and  cross-bones,  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  A  marine  police,  mount- 
ed upon  powerful  and  fast  sailing  steamers,  and  armed  with 


CAPTURED   AND   PUNISHED   BY   SPANIARDS  317 

breecli-loading  cannon,  have  driven  the  freebooters  from  the  sea. 
But  while  history  and  tradition  still  preserve  their  memory,  their 
blood,  to  some  extent,  courses  down  to  our  times  in  the  channels 
of  descent.  The  motto  upon  the  Bahama  Coat  of  Arms,  and 
which  is  engraved  upon  its  Great  Seal — "JExpulsis  Piratis,  Hes- 
titutia  Conimercia''' — is  an  official  and  durable  testimonial  of 
the  power  which  the  j^irates  possessed,  and  the  terror  they  in- 
spired in  former  times. 

The  proprietors  in  1G70,  appointed  one  Collingworth  (or  Chil- 
lingworth),  Governor  of  the  Bahamas,  but  the  inhabitants  con- 
cluded they  had  no  need  of  him,  and  therefore  took  forcible 
possession  of  his  person,  and  shipped  him  off  to  Jamaica. 

In  1G77  the  proprietors  conferred  the  vacant  gubernatorial 
crown  upon  one  Clark,  whose  great  exaltation  was  purchased  at 
the  price  of  his  life.  Ilis  piratical  subjects,  by  their  filibuster- 
ing excursions,  had  so  exasperated  their  Spanish  neighbors,  that 
the  latter  invaded  New  Providence,  destroyed  the  houses  upon 
it  by  fire,  took  all  the  inhabitants  captive  who  did  not  find  refuge 
in  the  woods,  carried  Governor  Clark  to  Cuba,  and,  it  is  said, 
tortured  him  to  death  and  roasted  him. 

In  1G84,  the  Spaniards  again  surprised  the  people  upon  the 
island,  and,  after  destroying  the  improvements  which  had  been 
made,  they  carried  off  some  of  the  inhabitants.  After  the  inva- 
ders left,  such  of  the  inhabitants  as  survived,  emerged  from  their 
hiding  places  in  a  forlorn  and  necessitous  condition,  again  started 
a  settlement,  and  in  1687  chose  a  Presbyterian  minister  by  the 
name  of  Bridge,  their  governor — a  rather  heavy  and  cumbrous 
title  considering  the  limited  number  and  poverty  of  the  people, 
fle  held  his  high  office  three  years. 

In  1690  the  proprietors  sent  out  one  Jones  to  be  Governor 
**  in  and  over  "  the  Bahamas.  He  tyranized  over  the  people  with 
a  high  and  nnscrupuloua  hand,  being  aided  by  the  pirate  Averv 


31  i^  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

Avho  commanded  a  sliip  witli  42  guns.  When  the  latter  was 
away,  the  outraged  people  put  the  Governor  iu  prison,  and  chose 
Ashley,  one  of  their  number,  President.  The  pirates  returned 
and  set  Jones  at  liberty,  who  in  turn  imprisoned  all  -whom  he 
suspected  of  hostility  to  himself,  and  desired  the  pirates  to  carry 
them  off  the  island  and  make  way  with  them. 

In  1G94,  Jones  was  superceded  by  one  Trott,  whom  the  pro- 
prietors appointed  in  his  place.  He  liberated  the  imprisoned  in- 
habitants, but  allowed  Jones  to  depart  without  a  trial.  Cowed 
by  his  fears,  he  also  permitted  the  pirates  to  land  with  their 
plunder  upon  the  island.  The  inhabitants  fraternized  with  the 
freebooters,  who  remained  unmolested.  To  protect  themselves 
from  the  Spaniards,  the  inhabitants  Imilt  a  small  fort  upon  which 
they  mounted  twenty-two  cannon.  "They  also  built  a  town  of 
IGO  houses  which  they  called  Nassau." 

In  1697  Webb  was  appointed  Governor.  After  holding  that 
office  two  years,  the  discretion  of  his  excellency  got  the  better  of 
bis  valor,  and  he  left  for  Pennsylvania. 

In  1099,  while  away,  he,  without  the  knowledge  of  the  pro- 
prietors, installed  in  his  place  a  mulatto  by  the  name  of  Eldridge, 
a  man  of  most  infamous  character,  who  secured  the  pirates  for 
his  protectors  and  patrons,  and  thus  was  en!il)led  to  retain  his 
title  and  his  power  for  two  years. 

In  ITOl  the  proprietary  "  lords  "  conferred  the  office  of  Gov- 
ernor upon  one  Haskel,  who  put  his  immediate  predecessor  into 
prison,  and  also  some  of  the  inhabitants,  whom  he  caused  to  be 
prosecuted  for  abetting  the  pirates.  His  zeal  proved  to  be  greater 
than  his  power,  for  in  five  weeks  after  his  arrival  upon  the  island, 
his  turbulent  subjects  seized  and  ironed  him,  and  after  keeping 
him  a  close  prisoner  for  six  weeks,  shipped  him  back  to  England. 

These  practical  believers  in  self-government  appointed  one  of 
their  associates  named  Lichtwood,  (or  Lightfoot,)  president  and 


FREXrH   AN'D   SPAN-TRTT   T]SrYASION"S.  319 

deputy  Croveriior,  who  held  his  office  for  two  years,  when  the 
French  and  Spaniards  surprised,  captured,  and  burned  Nassau, 
plundered  its  inhabitants,  destroyed  the  fort,  and  carried  the 
president  and  a  number  of  prisoners  to  Havana.  Shortly  after- 
wards these  formidable  enemies  returned  to  Nassau  and  captured 
and  carried  away  all  the  inhabitants  and  negroes  they  could  find. 

The  few  who  remained  fled  to  Carolina  and  Virginia,  and  the 
island  for  a  short  period  was  uninhabited.  The  pirates  then  for 
a  number  of  years  made  it  their  general  place  of  rendezvous,  and, 
it  is  said,  buried  their  booty  in  its  woods. 

Soon  after  the  last  invasion,  Burch  was  appointed  Governor 
by  the  proprietors,  but,  uj)on  his  arrival  at  Providence,  he  dis- 
covered that  subjects  and  ruler  were  all  consolidated  in  his  own 
person.  Like  a  horseless  rider,  he  could  perambulate  his  capital 
on  foot  and  alone,  with  the  useless  and  unused  whip  and  spurs 
of  his  high  office,  but  a  few  thousands  of  subjects  would  have 
been  extremely  handy  and  desirable  as  a  source  of  supply  for  his 
empty  exchequer,  for  even  upon  small  islands  a  man  cannot  get 
fat  or  exist  long  upon  his  titles,  although,  as  in  this  instance, 
they  may  enable  him  to  live  in  history.  So  this  Governor  with- 
out subjects,  i)Ocketed  his  formidable  credentials,  packed  his 
trunks  with  the  gilded  insignia  and  baubles  of  his  high  office, 
and  soon  exchanged  the  new  world  for  the  old — a  Aviser  if  not  a 
better  man.  He  appears  to  have  had  no  desire  to  play  the  part 
of  Robinson  Crusoe,  and  possessed  so  little  of  the  ambition  that 
inspired  poor  Sancho  Panza,  that  he  was  not  satisfied  to  be  the 
Governor  even  of  a  whole  archipelago  of  unoccupied  islands. 

The  lord  proprietors  became  fully  satisfied  at  last,  that  they 
had  upon  their  hands  a  good  sized  Bahama  elephant.  Had  their 
royal  master  been  pleased  to  have  given  them,  in  lieu  of  the  Isles 
of  Summer,  an  equal  number  of  square  miles  of  volcanic  moun- 
tains in  the  moon,  which  some  English  astronomer  had  falsely 


330  ISLES  OF   SUMMER. 

claimed  to  have  first  discovered,  they  would  have  occupied  a 
more  enviable  position,  for  while  the  grant  would  have  added 
nothing  to  their  income,  it  could  not  possibly  have  impoverished 
or  annoyed  them.  This  pestiferous  nest  of  pirates  had  only 
served  as  a  burial  place  for  their  money  and  their  hopes. 

The  British  government  finally,  in  the  interest  and  for  the 
security  of  commerce,  bought  the  title  of  the  legal  reiDresentatives 
of  the  six  proprietary  interests,  giving  for  each  £2,000. 

Upon  the  petition  of  the  merchants  of  London  and  Bristol, 
interested  in  the  security  of  commerce.  King  George  I  appointed 
Mr.  Ward  Rogers  Governor,  and  sent  him  with  a  force  of  one 
hundred  men  and  an  ample  supply  of  all  necessary  stores  to  fortify 
New  Providence.  He  arrived  out  in  1717,  and  an  act  of  indem- 
nity having  been  passed,  the  pirates  accepted  of  its  terms,  sur- 
rendered without  a  struggle,  and  became,  thereafter,  down  to 
1742,  when  Bruce  wrote,  "  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the  island.'^ 

According  to  Mr.  Mosely,  the  gubernatorial  office  was  filled  by 
Mr.  Rogers  from  1717  to  1721,  and  from  1728  to  1733;  George 
Phenny  or  Finney  was  Governor  during  the  intervening  years. 
The  population  did  not  exceed  1,000  persons. 

During  this  period  of  sixteen  years  the  executive  office  seems 
to  have  been  well  filled,  and  peace,  security  and  confidence  pre- 
vailed, so  that  many  families,  besides  many  Palatines,  settled  and 
made  improvements  upon  the  islands. 

In  1733  Richard  Fitz  Williams  was  appointed  Governor,  and 
with  ample  stores,  a  force  of  fifty  men,  and  an  engineer  named 
Thomas  Moore,  arrived  at  New  Providence,  with  special  directions 
to  fortify  the  place.  This  new  colonial  Governor  was  arbitrary 
and  tyrannical,  and  so  abused  his  power  that  "  the  best  of  the 
inhabitants  and  all  the  Palatines  abandoned  their  improvements 
and  left  the  iLland."  The  engineer  died  suddenly  b2fore  he  had 
made  much  progress  in  his  work.     In  the  bad  business  of  oppress- 


THE   EARLY   GOVER^TORS.  3^1 

ing  the  people,  the  Governor  had  tlie  assistance  and  active  co- 
operation of  a  member  of  the  council,  the  judge  of  the  court  of 
admiralty,  and  one  Archibald,  ("his  excellency's"  servant,)  who 
silenced  opposition  by  knocking  its  authors  down^  The  British 
sovei'eigns  appear  to  have  generally  made  their  Bahama  Governora 
out  of  very  bad  material.  It  was  difficult  as  well  as  expensive 
for  the  oppressed  islanders  to  make  their  complaints  heard  across 
the  wide  and  stormy  Atlantic,  but  three  prominent  inhabitants 
succeeded  in  reaching  London,  and  preferred  "charges  of  a  very 
extraordinary  nature  against  the  Governor,"  who,  after  much 
delay,  was  ordered  to  meet  his  accusers,  and  defend  himself 
against  their  formidable  indictment.  After  a  long  and  exjoensive 
trial,  the  charges  were  sustained  and  the  Governor  removed. 

In  1738  John  Tinker  was  appointed  Governor,  and  made  the 
people  happy  in  the  commencement  of  his  administration  by  his 
removals  and  administrative  reforms,  but  he  appeal's,  from  Bruce's 
account  founded  upon  personal  knowledge,  to  have  developed 
some  of  the  worst  qualities  of  his  j^redecessors.  In  the  most 
arbitrary,  unjust  and  illegal  manner,  he  made  a  variety  of  orders 
for  the  disposal  of  very  valuable  prize  property  captured  by  a 
privateer,  for  the  purpose  of  enriching  himself,  and  benefitting 
certain  peo])le  of  Xassau. 

Peter*  Henry  Bruce,  in  April,  1741,  arrived  in  Nassau,  and 
and  commenced  work  u])on  its  fortifications  under  a  commission 
from  the  British  government.  An  old  fort,  very  much  out  of 
repair,  called  Fort  Nassau,  within  which  wore  wooden  barracks 
in  a  tumble-down  condition,  then  stood  on  the  north  side  of 
what  is  now  known  as  Flemish  Square,  where  the  present  stone 
barracks  are  situated.  It  had  sixteen  badly-mounted  guns;  the 
remainder  of  its  armament  consisted  of  guns  in  part  spiked,  in 
part  charged  with  stones  and  sand,  in  part  buried  below  high- 
water  mark,  and  in  part  scattered  about  the  place;  and  of  gun' 


322  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

carriages,  trucks  and  shells,  each  of  which  appeared  to  have 
started  out  upon  its  own  account  to  explore  the  island.  Many 
of  the  guns  had  been  used  as  ballast  for  vessels.  Mr.  Bruce, 
after  collecting  and  testing  the  guns,  found  he  had  sixty-four  six, 
nine,  twelve  and  eighteen  pounders  fit  for  service. 

In  repairing  and  building  fortifications  at  Xassau,  Mr.  Bruce 
labored  under  great  and  peculiar  difficulties,  which  we  mention 
because  they  indicate  the  destitution  and  condition  of  Nassau  at 
that  time.  There  was  but  one  mason,  and  not  a  wheeled  vehicle 
of  any  kind  in  the  place.  He  imported  two  brick-layers  from 
Philadelphia,  and  taught  them  how  to  cut  and  lay  stone.  No 
laborers  could  be  hired  unless  they  were  furnished  with  provi- 
sions, supplies  of  which  he  j)rocured  from  New  York,  for  "the 
natives  lived  principally  upon  tortoise  and  fish,  any  kind  of  flesh 
meat  being  a  great  rarity." 

Eumors  of  another  Spanish  invasion  secured  for  Mr.  Bruce  the 
co-operation  of  the  Bahama  legislature  in  his  efforts  to  suitably 
fortify  the  place.  The  east  entrance,  or  "  back  door  "  of  Nassau, 
required  to  be  guarded,  and  the  present  Fort  Montague  was  at 
that  time  erected.  The  Governor  laid  its  foundation  stone  on 
the  10th  day  of  June,  A.  D.  1741,  in  the  presence  of  the  prin- 
cipal inhabitants  of  the  island.  A  sea-battery  was  erected  near 
it  at  the  same  time.  Necessary  building  stone  would  liave  been 
brought  from  tlic  woods  upon  the  heads  of  the  negroes,  had  not 
the  alarmed  local  authorities  furnished  the  necessary  boats  for 
its  transportation.  Pallisades  were  made  of  mastic  wood,  whicli 
Mr.  Bruce  states,  "is  as  hard  and  heavy  as  iron,  and  musket 
balls  make  no  impression  upon  it."  The  inhabitants  informed 
him  that  it  would  last  a  century,  and  was  proof  against  swivel 
shot.     The  pallisades  could  be  cut  and  worked  only  when  green. 

Then,  as  now,  the  rocks  were  soft  below  the  surface,  and  easily 
cut,  but  hardened  when  exposed  to  the  air.  Cannon  balls,  when 
fired  into  the  soft  stone,  were  buried  as  in  sand  banks. 


B&tJC:^.      AMERICiAX   LOYALISTS.  ^^3 

Mr.  Bruce  found  sufficient  leisure  time  while  at  Nassau  to 
collect  much  historical  information  which  he  published  in  his 
"Memoirs."  Most  of  the  facts  contained  in  the  foregoing  his- 
torical summary  are  collated  from  his  book.  So  far  as  v/e  have 
been  able  to  learn,  no  other  writer  cither  preceded  or  followed 
him  in  sketching  the  history  of  the  Bahamas.  The  historic  pen 
which  Bruce  laid  down  in  1742,  when  he  left  Nassau  to  make 
good  the  defenses  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  no  one  has  taken  up. 
The  soothing  air  of  the  Isles  of  Summer  is  not  favorable  to  the 
making  or  writing  of  history.  We  have  gleaned  but  a  few  items 
with  which  to  fill  the  intervening  historical  chasm  measured  by 
the  past  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  years. 

When  the  independence  of  the  United  States  was  confirmed, 
and  established  by  the  treaty  of  peace  in  1783,  there  were  many 
inhabitants  of  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  who,  during  the  revo- 
lutionary war,  retained  their  affection  for  the  mother  countr}', 
and  their  loyalty  to  its  government.  These  people  lacked  faith 
in  the  republic,  and  the  same  spirit  which  induced  them  or  their 
ancestors  to  emigrate  to  the  American  colonies,  caused  them  to 
abandon  their  new  homes  and  seek  their  fortunes  elsewhere. 
Many  of  them  removed  with  their  slaves  to  the  Bahamas,  and 
commenced  new  plantations  ujoon  a  number  of  the  islands.  The 
virgin  soil  for  a  few  seasons  yielded  large  harvests;  but  its  fertil- 
ity was  soon  exhausted.  Deprived  of  trees  and  bushes,  the  fields 
were  scorched  by  the  hot  sun,  while  swarms  of  destructive  in- 
sects consumed  and  otherwise  destroyed  the  scanty  harvests.  It 
required  but  a  few  years  to  complete  the  financial  ruin  of  the 
new  settlers.  Their  improvements  and  negroes  were  of  little 
value  in  the  absence  of  paying  crops.  What  had  been  saved  of 
their  fortunes  in  the  States  speedily  disappeared,  and  they  were 
left  destitute  even  of  the  means  of  removal  from  the  little  islands 
in  which  their  courage  and  hopes  were  entombed. 


S^4  istr.i?  6f  srSr^rriTt. 

During  tlie  war  of  the  American  revolution  the  island  of  Kc"vr 
Providence  was  for  a  brief  time  a  part  of  the  young  American 
rejDublic,  and  the  starry  flag  floated  in  triumph  from  all  the  forts 
and  flag  staffs  of  Nassau,  and  decorated  the  governor's  house 
on  the  crest  of  its  hill.  The  bold  and  intrepid  Commodore  Hop- 
kins, with  a  small  body  of  men,  accomplished  this  result.  The 
American  commander  very  soon  made  up  his  mind,  as  did  Col- 
umbus before  him,  that  he  could  do  much  better  elsewhere.  In 
fact,  there  were  no  lofty  mountain  crags  upon  the  Bahamas, 
where  the  great  American  eagle  could  build  its  nest,  and  no  sufli- 
cient  room  upon  the  island  of  New  Providence  for  the  national 
bird  to  fully  and  comfortably  spread  its  wings.  The  island 
seemed  designed  by  Divine  Providence  for  parrots  and  birds  that 
were  satisfied  to  spend  their  lives  in  the  hot  sun,  admiring  the 
beautiful  plumage  which  the  brackish  waters  of  the  still  and 
shallow  lagoons  reflected.  So  the  Commodore  furled  the  stars 
and  stripes,  and  abandoned  as  worthless  the  island  he  had  so  gal- 
lantly captured. 

In  the  year  1T81,  a  Spanish  force  made  up  in  part  of  some 
American  volunteers,  took  military  possession  of  Nassau,  and 
garrisoned  it  with  six  hundred  troops.  A  short  time  previous 
to  the  notification  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  Lieut.  Col.  Deveaux, 
of  the  loyal  militia  of  South  Carolina,  planned,  organized  and 
led  an  expedition  against  Nassau,  in  which  great  boldness,  in- 
o-enuity,  address  and  ability  were  displayed.  "With  two  armed 
brigantines  and  only  fifty  volunteers,  he  sailed  from  St.  Augus- 
tine, and,  after  obtaining  some  recruits,  (principally  negroes,) 
from  Eleuthcra  and  the  neighboring  islands,  he  landed  with  his 
little  handful  of  adventurers  upon  the  island  of  New  Providence 
a  little  to  the  eastward  of  Fort  Montague.  The  officers  of  that 
fort  were  completely  taken  unawares,  and  when  the  column  of 
attack  reached  the  ramparts,  only  one  solitary  sentinel  was  in 


Nassau  captured  by  americait  loyalists.        325 

sight  to  receive  them.  He  liad  a  lighted  match  in  his  hand, 
ready  to  blow  up  the  fortress  if  the  exigencies  of  the  case  should 
require  it,  but  the  intrepidity  of  Col.  Deveaux  who  headed  the 
assailants,  thwarted  his  design;  sjiringing  upon  the  bewildered 
and  astonished  sentinel,  Col.  Deveaux  made  him  his  prisoner, 
and  immediately  afterwards,  without  a  struggle  or  even  a  parley, 
the  fort,  with  its  garrison,  armament  and  military  stores  was 
surrendered.  The  Colonel,  rpiickly,  and  witliout  opposition, 
proceeded  with  an  attacking  column  to  the  crest  of  the  hill  and 
to  the  grounds  upon  which  the  Governor's  house  was  situated, 
overlooking  tlie  town.     jMcKinnen  says: 

"  Every  artifice  was  used  to  deceive  the  Spaniards,  both  as  to 
the  number  and  description  of  tlm  enemy  (hey  had  to  contend 
with.  A  show  of  boats  was  made,  continually  rowing  from  the 
vessels,  filled  with  men,  Avho  apparently  landed,  but  in  fact  con- 
cealed themselves  by  lying  down  as  they  returned  to  the  vessels, 
and  afterwards  made  their  appearance,  as  a  fresh  supply  of  trooj)s 
proceeding  to  disembark.  Men  of  straw,  it  is  said,  were  dressed 
out  to  increase  the  apparent  number  on  the  heiglits;  and  some 
of  the  troops,  to  intimidate  the  Spaniards,  were  painted  and  dis- 
guised as  their  inveterate  foes,  the  Indians.  One  or  two  galleys 
in  the  harl)or  had  been  captured,  and,  trusting  to  the  circum- 
stances in  his  favor,  Colonel  Deveaux  summoned  the  Governor 
to  surrender,  with  a  pompous  description  of  his  formidable  force. 
Some  hesitation  being  at  first  discovered,  the  Colonel  seconded 
his  overtures  with  a  well-directed  shot  at  the  Governor's  house 
from  a  field-piece,  during  his  delil)eration,  wliioli  produced  an 
immediate  capitulation.  The  Spanish  troops,  in  hiying  down 
their  arms,  it  is  said,  could  not  refrain  from  expressing  the  ut- 
most mortification  and  confusion  as  they  surveyed  their  con- 
querors, not  only  so  inferior  in  point  of  numbers,  but  ludicrous 
in  their  dress  and  military  appearance." 

28 


326  ISLES  OF  ST'':\r^rEft. 

By  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  the  title  of  the  king  of 
Great  Britain  to  the  Bahamas  was  established.  Since  that  time, 
for  nearly  a  hundred  years,  the  islands  have  remained  one  of 
the  out-lying  portions  of  the  British  Empire.  Situated  at  one 
of  the  gates  of  entrance  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  near  to  our  shores, 
and  in  the  path  of  our  commerce,  nothing  prevents  Britain's 
l^ossession  from  being  a  menace  but  their  insignificance  and 
weakness  in  a  military  point  of  view. 

The  late  war  of  the  rebellion  demonstrated  the  capabilities  of 
Nassau  and  its  harbor  for  mischief  when  occupied  in  time  of 
war  by  a  professedly  neutral,  but  covertly  hostile  power.  Except 
during  the  period  covered  by  our  late  Vv'ar — 1861  to  1865 — the 
history  of  Nassau  from  1783  to  the  present  time,  has  been  as 
dull  and  devoid  of  interest  (outside  of  that  which  accompanies 
wrecks  and  hurricanes,)  as  the  still  and  shallow  waters  of  a 
mangrove  lake.  But,  as  has  been  well  said,  a  nation  is  most  pros- 
perous when  it  furnishes  the  least  for  the  historian  to  record; 

"And  noiseless  falls  the  foot  of  time 
Which  only  treads  on  flowers. " 

One  event,  of  an  extremely  radical  and  revolutionary  character, 
should  not,  however,  be  passed  by  unnoticed — the  abolition  of 
slavery.  This  result  was  accomplished  without  the  loss  of  a  life, 
the  firing  of  a  gun,  or  disturbance  of  any  kind.  By  the  silent 
operation  of  a  law  enacted  upon  an  island  some  four  thousand 
mibs  away,  upon  the  other  side  of  the  wide  and  stormy  Atlantic, 
all  of  the  enslaved  Bahama  negroes  were  changed  from  chattels 
into  men,  and  became  at  once  free  citizens  of  that  great  empire 
which  circles  the  world,  and  upon  which  the  sun  never  sets. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Nassau  Reoisited.  Lack  of  Confidence  in  the  Northern  March.  Missing 
Trunks— Man  and  His  Clothes.  The  New  York  and  Nassau  Steamboat  Line. 
The  Western  Texan.  Notable  Passenrjers.  The  Fountain  of  Youth  on  Litch- 
field Hill.  Fernandina.  Picturesque  Shores.  Sea-birds.  The  Mouth  of  the 
St.  John's— its  Bar  and  Breakers.  A  Visit  to  St.  Nicholas.  Incidents  and 
Scenes  in  the  Gulf  of  Florida.  ' '  Bank  Sha7'ks."  Porpoises.  Crossing  the 
Oulf  Stream.     Dolphins.     Sun-set  Views.     Arrival  at  Nassau. 

"  Once  more  upon  the  water!  yet  once  more ! 
And  the  waves  roll  beneath  me  like  a  steed 
That  knows  its  rider — welcome  to  their  roar  I" — Byeon. 

Whek  we  awoke  Thursday  morning,  March  4th,  1880,  the  air 
was  filled  with  the  melody  of  the  birds  of  early  spring,  and  the 
soft  sweet  notes  of  the  blue  birds  were  especially  noticeable.  The 
air  was  as  warm  and  genial  as  that  of  a  pleasant  morning  in  May. 
Gentle  zephyrs  sported  with  the  leafless  branches  of  the  orchard 
and  forest  trees,  and  lovingly  kissed  and  quickened  with  a  new 
energy  the  arbutus,  the  crocus,  the  dalfodil  and  other  flowers, 
that  were  courageously  pushing  their  long  buried  licads  out  of 
the  ground  to  see  if  winter,  their  natural  enemy,  had  retreated 
to  its  arctic  home.  What  folly,  we  exclaimed,  to  leave  the 
shores  of  Connecticut  and  encounter  the  perils  of  an  ocean  voy- 
age in  search  of  a  summer  that  is  already  here  !  But  we  had 
good  reason  to  mistrust  appearances.  Tlie  northern  March  has 
an  established  reputation.  Its  record  is  as  old  as  the  centuries 
that  have  passed  away.     Though  it  approached  concealed  in  the 

32? 


32S  ISLES  OF  SUMlirER. 

gay  mantle  of  spring,  and  greeted  us  with  sunny  smiles,  "WQ 
knew  that  more  disease  and  discomfort  lay  ambushed  within  its 
thirty-one  days  than  can  be  found  in  any  three  of  the  remaining 
montlis  of  the  year.  It  miglit  deceive  the  flowers — they  i:iave 
perished  in  its  frosts  before;  and  tlie  birds  that  have  more  mel- 
ody and  beauty  tlian  mind  and  brains;  and  tempt  tlie  fish  back 
to  their  old  spawning  grounds — a  shad  cannot  be  expected  to 
know  any  better — but  as  for  us,  we  said,  we  would  seek  for  sum- 
mer where  summer  lives  and  reigns  throughout  the  entire  circle 
of  the  revolving  year,  wliere  the  northern  March  is  unknown. 

Our  arrangements  were  soon  made,  and  the  steamer  Elm  City 
landed  us  safely  in  New  York,  after  a  refreshing  night's  sleep. 
Before  the  break  of  day,  while  we  skirted  the  eastern  shore  of 
Manhattan  Island,  we  looked  out  of  our  stateroom  window, 
through  the  murky  and  humid  air,  upon  the  sleeping  city,  and 
mused  and  marveled  at  the  wondrous  changes  which  an  hour  or 
two  of  daylight  would  produce.  Its  shipping  and  great  business 
arteries  were  but  dimly  revealed  in  the  gas-light  and  lamp-light, 
wliile  gloomy  vajiors  concealed  from  view  its  dome  of  stars.  The 
fevered  and  mad  pulses  that  so  wildly  beat  and  throb  by  day, 
were  soothed  and  quieted  by  kind  nature's  grand  oi^iate  and  re- 
storative, sleej).  Day  and  night  work  wondrous  changes  in  our 
country's  great  commercial  capital.  Ocean  in  calm  and  storm 
is  not  more  unlike  than  a  great  city  at  mid-day  and  mid-night. 
0,  how  we  abominate  the  horrid  noises  of  its  crowded  streets— 
the  awful  solitude  of  its  thoroughfares! 

It  was  between  eight  and  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  when 
the  astonishing  fact  was  discovered  that  our  trunks  had  not  ac- 
companied us  to  New  York,  they  having  been  left  unchecked  at 
the  steamboat  dock  at  New  Haven!  Our  stateroom  in  the  Wes- 
tern Texas  was  engaged,  and  the  steamer  was  advertised  to  sail 
at  3  P.  M.  of  the  same  day.     Had  we  lost  our  money  we  could  have 


MISSING  TRUNKS.  329 

drawn  for  more,  or  borrowed  or  got  trusted,  perhaps.  If  we 
had  even  lost  our  reputation  or  character  we  miglit  get  along 
among  strangers  by  leading  a  virtuous  life  in  the  future,  and  we 
knew  that  God  forgives  us  if  man  does  not.  Even  the  loss  of 
reason  may  prove  to  be  a  temporary  affair  which  the  quiet  and 
medicated  air  of  the  ocean  has  power  to  sometimes  restore.  But 
to  lose  one's  clothes — to  leave  behind  one's  wardrobe,  just  as  tlio 
ship  that  is  to  carry  you  to  distant  countries  is  getting  up  steam 
to  take  you  away,  is  a  calamity  so  crushing  and  overAvhclming 
that  one  would  hardly  desire  such  a  misfortune  to  befall  his  bit- 
terest enemy.  Why,  character  and  respectability,  social  position, 
civilization,  everything  that  makes  a  man  among  men  and  a  lady 
among  women,  is  involved  in  one's  personal  dry  goods.  Wlieu 
one  begins  to  wear  clothes  he  ceases  to  be  a  savage,  and  is  indeed 
almost  a  Christian.  It  is  true  we  were  bound  for  the  isles  of 
perpetual  summer,  where  clothes  are  not  required  to  meet  any 
physical  want,  and  are  only  worn  to  indicate  that  man  Is  not  a 
brute  beast;  but  still  we,  and  especially  tlie  female  half  of  us, 
were  really  horrified  at  the  idea  of  leaving  New  York  upon  a  long 
journey,  almost  as  naked  as  we  were  born. 

A  young  and  efficient  officer  of  the  New  Haven  Steamboat 
Company  came  to  our  relief,  utilized  the  telegraph,  and  thus 
endeavored  to  secure  for  our  trunks  a  place  on  board  the  Conti- 
nental, which  was  to  leave  New  Haven  for  Now  York  at  10  a.  m. 
A  delay  in  the  sailing  time  of  the  Western  Texas  was  promised 
us,  and  we  waited  in  a  state  of  mingled  hope  and  fear  the  slow 
creeping  of  the  languid  hours.  0,  how  much  depended  on  the  ' 
result!  Whether  we  should  leave  our  native  laud  decent,  re- 
spectable people,  or  otherwise,  all  depended  upon  the  arrival  or 
non-arrival  on  time  of  those  ill-starred  and  sad-fated  trunks. 
We  sat  upon  the  deck  of  the  Western  Texas  and  closely  scruti- 
nized every  approaching  steamer.     How  beautifully,  like  glgan- 


330  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

tic  white-feathered  water  fowls,  they  unceasingly  cut  and  skim- 
med the  dimpled  waters  which  constitute  that  grand  navigable 
highway  that  separates  and  yet  inakes  one  two  great  cities!  At 
half -past  three  o'clock,  a  steamer  more  beautiful  than  the  rest, 
with  a  proud  air  of  conscious  superiority,  made  her  appearance, 
and  as  she  clianged  her  course  to  enter  Peck's  slip,  the  name 
'•'Continental"  was  plainly  discernable.  The  next  twenty  min- 
utes were  the  longest  and  most  anxious  ones  we  ever  experienced. 
Stars  may  wander  from  their  spheres  and  be  lost  forever,  and 
not  affect  us  in  the  least — but  to  lose  all  one's  wardrobe,  includ- 
ing one's  newest  and  best  *•  store-clothes  " — ah!  that  was  alto- 
gether more  than  our  equanimity  could  endure;  there  was  no 
relief  or  palliation  for  it  in  the  philosophical  reflections  and  teach- 
ings of  a  life  time.  There  is  an  end  to  all  things,  and  we  de- 
A'outly  thank  God  that  suspense  and  fear  have  their  limits.  The 
last  one  of  at  least  fifty  baggage  wagons  that  we  examined  con- 
tained the  missing  objects  of  our  heart's  then,  fondest  affections. 
The  countenance  of  that  old  Jew  who  welcomed  back  the  return- 
ing prodigal  son,  was  certainly  less  wreathed  with  smiles,  and  less 
illumined  with  the  light  of  a  new  joy,  than  was  ours  at  beholding 
at  that  auspicious  but  late  hour,  those  missing  trunks;  and,  after 
seeing  that  they  were  properly  checked  and  shipped,  we  went 
again  on  board  and  were  soon  employed  in  reading  Milton's  great 
Avork — so  evidently  composed  for  such  an  occasion  as  this — "  Par- 
adise Regained." 

The  sea  treated  us  tenderly.  For  a  time  it  foamed,  hissed, 
howled  and  shook  us  up,  but  only,  by  giving  us  a  slight  taste  and 
token  of  its  powers,  to  make  us  more  appreciate  the  greatness 
and  goodness  of  its  forbearance.  For  perhaps  a  hundred  miles 
each  side  of  Hatteras,  we  crossed  the  great  ocean  storm  belt,  and 
the  sky  lowered  upon  us  as  if  in  anger,  but  we  soon  sped  away 
from  the  impendnig  danger  and  basked  on  deck  in  the  warm  rays 


THE   WERTETIX   TEXAS.  ~  33l 

of  a  moro  southerly  sun.  Although  out  of  eight  of  laud,  we 
skirted  sufficiently  near  the  Atlantic's  western  shore  to  have  tho 
constant  company  of  large  white  gulls,  who,  to  some  extent,  de- 
pended upon  our  ship  for  their  sup])lies.  The  occasional  appear- 
ance of  steamers  and  vessels  with  sails  spread  to  the  wind,  clearly 
indicated  that  we  were  traversing  one  of  the  great  frequented 
but  trackless  paths  of  the  sea.  We  passed  the  entrance  to 
Charleston  harbor,  and  if  we  could  only  have  prolonged  the  day- 
light for  a  few  hours,  we  would  have  reached  Port  Royal,  our 
first  stopping  place,  the  third  night  after  leaving  New  York.  A 
gentleman  with  a  sea-glass  reported  that  he  saw  trees  upon  the 
Carolina  shore,  but  we  suspected  he  was  somewhat  aided  by  his 
imagination. 

The  Western  Texas  is  one  of  a  line  of  steamers  which  runs 
between  New  York  and  Nassau,  touching  at  one  or  more  of  our 
southern  j^orts  going  and  returning.  They  are  owned  by  C.  H. 
Mallory  &  Co.,  and  carry  tlie  mail  under  a  long  contract  with 
the  Bahama  government,  v»  hich  pays  the  company  a  handsome 
subsidy  for  the  service.  From  the  position  and  nearness  of  the 
Bahamas  to  our  coast,  intimate  and  close  commercial  intercourse 
between  them  and  the  United  States  is  inevitable. 

The  Texas  is  a  nev/  boat,  about  three  years  old,  and  has  supe- 
rior passenger  accommodations.  Its  main  saloon,  "social  hall  " 
and  staterooms,  are  roomy,  very  handsomely  finished  and  fui-- 
nislied,  and  uncommonly  pleasant.  Neatness,  cleanliness,  order 
and  efficiency  are  marked  characteristics,  and  comfort  and  con- 
fidence are  the  result.  The  table,  during  our  voyage,  was  sup- 
plied with  an  abundance  of  well-cooked  food,  including  all  the 
substantials  and  many  of  the  delicacies  that  are  to  be  met  with 
in  a  good  hotel.  She  registers  1250  tons,  and  is  one  of  the 
largest  of  the  line;  the  freight  and  passenger  business  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  warrant  the  use  of  larger  vessels. 


33S  ISLES  OP  SUMMEH. 

While  our  passenger  list  was  small,  we  were  rcmarlvably  favored 
in  respect  to  the  general  good  character  of  all,  and  the  excep- 
tionally liigli  character  of  some  of  our  passengers.  Among  them 
were  included  the  venerable  ex-Chief  Justice  of  Connecticut,  the 
Honorable  Origen  S.  Seymour,  of  Litchfield,  and  his  wife;  the 
Honorable  George  C.  Woodruif,  a  veteran  of  the  bar  of  Litch- 
field county,  for  legal  ability  probably  second  to  no  lawyer  in 
our  State,  and  formerly  a  member  of  Congress,  and  his  wife; 
Mrs.  Sanford,  the  widow  of  the  late  Judge  Sanford,  formerly  of 
the  Connecticut  Supreme  Court,  and  several  members  of  her 
family,  and  an  old  sea  captain  who  had  spent  the  greater  part  of 
some  forty  years  upon  tlie  ocean.  We  never  looked  upon  the 
Litchfield  delegation  without  ff^elinga  strong  sentiment  of  state 
pride,  and  personal  veneration  and  admiration.  What  a  grand 
stock!  What  a  place  is  old  Litchfield  for  mental,  moral  and  phy- 
sical development!  At  the  ripe  ago  of  seventy-six,  with  what  an 
elastic  step  our  old  judicial  chieftain  trod  the  steamer's  deck! 
How  keen  his  intellect!  How  bright  and  sparkling  his  soul-lit 
eye!  How  youthful,  ever  green  and  sunny  his  spirits!  The  great 
leader  of  judicial  reform,  there  was  not  a  fossil  or  a  barnacle 
about  him.  But,  towering  high  and  strong  above  all,  was  his 
tender  devotion,  his  unremitting  care  and  watchfulness,  his  de- 
voted and  unflagging  affection  and  love  for  his  aged  and  sea  sick 
wife,  the  mother  of  his  stalwart  and  able  sons!  Turning  from 
him  to  the  hale,  hearty,  rugged  Woodruff,  full  of  the  learned 
lore  of  the  law,  we  inwardly  exclaimed  that  the  dream  of  the  past 
is  a  veritable  fact — there  is  a  "  fountain  of  perpetual  youth,"  and 
it  bubbles  up  on  the  top  of  Litchfield  hill,  and  these  are  they 
who  have  drank  of  its  wonderful  waters.  May  their  shadows 
never  grow  less,  nor  their  blood  cease  to  circulate  in  the  veins 
and  arteries  of  the  men  of  the  future! 

Having  freight  on  board  for  Fernandina,  it  was  necessary  for 


FERFANDIKA.  333 

US  to  go  up  for  a  short  distance  the  St.  Mary's — a  river  that  con- 
stitutes in  part  the  line  of  division  between  Georgia  and  Florida. 
We  remained  outside  all  one  nighty  and  in  the  early  morning 
cautiously  proceeded  towards  the  city,  here  and  there  feeling  our 
way  with  the  sounding  line.  Xearly  all  the  day  was  consumed 
in  discharging  freight.  The  Aveather  was  so  threatening  that 
Ave  were  content  to  simply  view  the  city  from  the  upper  deck. 
One  colored  policeman,  black  and  dirty,  Avas  on  duty  at  the 
wharf.  lie  much  needed  a  new  uniform,  but  his  "billy,"  and 
the  revolver  that  protruded  conspicuously  out  of  one  of  his  pock- 
ets, looked  as  if  capable  of  doing  good  serA'ice.  "We  must  con- 
fess that  we  were  not  very  favorably  impressed  with  this  specimen 
of  the  right  arm  of  Florida's  civil  poAver.  A  big  negro  boy,  who, 
in  our  presence  horscAA-hippcd  a  little  one,  and  boldly  returned 
the  blows  of  a  colored  man  who  undertook  to  avenge  the  small 
boy's  wrongs,  was  allowed  to  escape. 

A  smart,  pretty  white  boy,  only  four  years  of  age,  smoked 
three  cigars  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours,  and  was  reported  to 
liave  received  in  the  morning  at  the  hands  of  his  father — Avho 
had  charge  of  the  men  who  unloaded  the  freight — his  morning 
glass  of  brandy  and  water!  Fernandina,  apparently,  is  a  place 
of  some  thi'ee  thousand  inhabitants,  white  and  colored.  It  has 
a  pleasant  look,  resting  upon  a  gentle  elevation  above  its  harbor. 
In  leaving  it,  we  steamed  along  nearly  the  Avhole  line  of  its  water 
front,  and  noticed  that  its  streets  seemed  grass  grown,  being 
green  with  a  low  vegetable  growth  of  some  kind.  As  it  is  con- 
nected with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  by  railroad,  it  is  the  center  of 
considerable  freighting  business.  St.  Mary's  river,  like  the  St. 
John's,  seeks  the  ocean  through  several  channels,  by  which  means 
a  number  of  islands  arc  formed — Ioav,  green  savannahs,  liere  and 
there  diversified  AA'ith  forest  growths,  tlic  trees  and  bushes  giving 
no  indications  of  having  ever  felt  the  noiseless,  killing  touch  of 


334  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

the  great  northern  frost  king,  who  so  quietly  and  thoroughly 
paves  our  roads  and  bridges,  our  lakes  and  rivers  in  a  single  night. 

Our  jDassengers  thronged  the  bow  of  our  boat  and  feasted  eye 
and  mind  upon  scenery  of  unusual  loveliness.  The  shore  lines, 
with  their  white  beaches  and  dark  biickgrounds,  were  constantly 
changing  in  their  forms  and  outlines.  Amelia  beach  reminded 
ns  as  we  passed  of  the  pleasure  we  experienced  when  driving  over 
it  a  little  more  than  a  year  before.  Our  water-way  was  marked 
by  buoys,  while  several  lighthouses  j-roclaimed  the  fostering  care 
of  a  wise,  paternal  government,  in  lighting  at  night  the  watery 
highways.  AVe  passed  within  a  few  feet  of  a  warning  bell,  so 
hung  that  the  play  of  the  ceaseless  tides  causes  it  to  constantly 
rise  and  fall,  and,  unattended,  to  ring  out  upon  the  waters  in  calm 
and  storm,  during  the  long  hours  of  the  day  and  the  darker  and 
longer  hours  of  the  night,  in  musical  tones,  ''Ho!  mariners,  this 
is  the  only  true  way!  As  ye  value  your  lives,  heed  me  and  obey 
my  voice!" 

In  vain  the  sun  struggled  to  look  down  u})on  this  charming 
picture  of  sea  and  land.  Cold  looking  clouds  veiled  the  sky. 
Beautiful  pelicans  sported  in  the  air,  amused,  perhaps,  at  the 
frolicsome  play  of  the  porpoises  in  the  waters  below.  Wild 
ducks,  obeying  some  great  social  law,  were  seen  associating  to- 
gether in  large  flocks,  observing  the  most  perfect  order,  and 
giving  to  man  examples  worthy  of  imitation  of  mutual  forbear- 
ance, domestic  peace,  and  freedom  from  family  jars  and  internal 
dissensions.  Our  old  friends,  the  sea-gulls,  held  not  each  with 
the  rest  so  close  a  communion,  and  seemed  to  have  more  individ- 
ual liberty  with  their  unity;  but  they  kept  sufficiently  near  to  each 
other  to  avoid  the  crushing  loneliness  of  a  solitary  life. 

Danger  ever  hovers  above  and  around  us,  and  unseen  peril  often 
most  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  darts  out  upon  us  from  its  am- 
bush. But  thus  far  only  two  petty  annoyances  had  interfered 
with  the  deep,  strong,  and  steady  current  uf  our  joys. 


ANXOYAXCES.      THE  ST.  JOHiS-'S.'  335 

One  occurred  at  Port  Koyal,  where  our  steamer  was  tied  up 
all  night  to  the  wharf  close  to  a  freight  house  in  which  a  thou- 
sand bags  of  Peruvian  guano  were  stored,  the  intolerable  stench 
of  which  invaded  our  ship,  entered  the  saloons,  took  possession 
of  every  stateroom  and  remained  with  us  all  night.  For  pun- 
gency and  power  it  certainly  surpassed  the  fifty-nine  distinct  and 
independent  bad  smells  that  formerly  regaled  the  traveler  at  one 
and  the  same  instant  of  time  in  the  streets  of  Cologne.  We 
carried  away  from  the  Palmetto  State  only  a  vivid  memory  of 
a  horrible  odor  that  will  last  us  a  life  time. 

The  other  was  a  plague  of  insects  at  Fernandina,  where  our 
ship  was  taken  captive  by  great  swarms  of  little  gnats,  Avho  were 
so  glad  to  see  us  that  it  really  seemed  as  if  they  were  determined 
to  literally  eat  us  up.  Some  hid  away  in  sheltered  nooks  out  of 
the  wind  when  we  left,  and  seized  every  opportunity  to  renew 
their  acquaintance  with  the  northern  strangers. 

Our  steamer  took  the  outside  route  from  Fernandina,  and  for 
some  time  before  we  reached  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John's  our  at- 
tention was  called  to  the  fact  that  the  water  of  the  river  is  carried 
to  the  north  in  a  well  defined  stream,  strongly  distinguished  by 
its  color  from  that  of  the  sea  with  which  it  refuses  to  assimilate. 
Fed  by  vast  wooded  swamps,  great  lakes  and  unnumbered 
tributary  streams,  the  noble  St.  John's,  after  rolling  in  solemn 
majesty  through  low  but  jncturesqae  banks  for  hundreds  of 
miles,  becomes  at  last  a  river  of  the  ocean,  scooping  out  for  itself, 
like  the  Gulf  Stream,  a  channel  in  the  heavier  waters  of  the  sea. 

The  great  rivers  of  the  south  are  constantly  and  persistently 
endeavoring  to  barricade  their  mouths,  as  if  principled  against 
intercourse  with  the  outside  workl;  Channels  for  commerce  are 
no  sooner  made  and  buoyed  through  the  great  bars  and  banks 
than  they  are  closed  again.  The  bold  navigator  is  perplexed  and 
confounded  by  changes  which  are  constantly  taking  place,  and 
the  soundings  of  one  day  are  no  sure  guide  for  the  next. 


336  ISLES    OF    SUMMER. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John's  the  breakers,  foaming  over 
vast  submerged  sand  fields,  please  the  eye,  but  are  strongly  sug- 
gestive of  danger.  The  tortuous  channel  was  said  to  be  only  six 
weeks  old.  It  certainly  differed  greatly  from  the  one  through 
which  we  were  j^iloted  the  previous  year.  Without  the  aid  of 
steam-tugs,  sailing  vessels  must  find  it  very  difiicult  and  decidedly 
dangerous  to  make  their  way  along  the  submerged  banks  and 
over  the  bar.  The  rem  lins  of  two  wrecks — -one  that  of  a  steamer 
— which  we  passed,  bore  silent  testimony  to  the  perils  which 
navigators  are  here  called  upon  to  encounter.  A  large  number 
of  pilots  live  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John's  and  study  its  con- 
stant mutations.  They  have  built  up  a  village  on  i:;s  left  bank, 
which  bears  the  appropiate  name  of  ''Pilot  Town."  Opposite 
this  is  the  village  of  Mayport,  which  is  inhabited  mostly  by  fisher- 
men, whose  fishing  nets,  boats  and  reels  gave  variety  and  interest 
to  the  view. 

Soon  after  we  entered  the  river,  a  cloudy  night  deprived  us  of 
the  pleasure  we  had  hoped  to  experience  in  viewing  for  twenty- 
five  miles  the  St.  John's  below  Jacksonville.  "We  tied  up  to 
the  wharf  at  about  8  p.  m. 

The  next  day  we  took  passage  in  the  little  steamboat  that  daily 
makes  frequent  trips  to  ''The  Home  "  (stopping at  intermediate 
landings)  upon  a  beautiful  bank  at  the  junction  of  Arlington 
creek  and  the  river  St.  John's.  We  landed  at  St.  Nicholas,  and 
for  a  few  brief  but  hajjpy  hours  observed  and  tasted  the  sweets 
of  plantation  life.  A  re-union  with  some  old  and  highly  esteemed 
friends  "refined  the  pure  gold"  of  smiling,  verdant,  blooming 
nature's  welcome. 

.  The  river  bank  where  we  landed  is  about  twenty-five  feet  high, 
the  top  of  which  we  reached  by  a  winding  path  through  a  wild 
tangle  of  bushes  and  vines,  covered  with  verdure  and  adorned 
with  buds  and  blossoms.     Once  more  upon  the  land — not  in  the 


A  VISIT  TO   ST.    NICHOLAS.  337 

man-made  city,  but,  to  our  great  joy,  in  the  God-made  country — 
how  fresh  and  beautiful  everything  appeared !  We  bade  the  rest 
speed  on  and  leave  us  to  enjoy  in  silence  and  solitude  the  delights 
of  the  place  and  hour.  Here  a  little  nameless  shrub,  with  its 
curious  leaves  and  fragrant  blossoms,  called  to  us  from  the  thicket, 
and  climbmg  vines  reached  out  their  tendrils  as  if  to  lovingly 
clasp  and  detain  us  as  we  passed.  The  mocking  birds  sang  their 
varied  songs  from  unseen  coverts;  high-vine  blackberry  bushes, 
loaded  with  green  fruit,  recalled  many  a  familiar  spot  a  thou- 
sand miles  away,  and  faces  we  desired  so  much  to  see  again.  The 
beautiful  and  spacious  river,  with  its  winding  shores  and  low 
green  banks,  its  little  skiffs  and  occasional  steamers,  compelled 
us  often  to  stop  and  look  back.  In  full  view,  some  four  or  five 
miles  away,  was  the  city  that  we  had  just  left;  over  our  heads 
was  a  smiling  sky,  and  a  sun  glowing  with  a  heat  that  was,  at  80° 
in  the  shade,  made  agreeable  by  a  steady  breeze  from  over  the 
water.  Upon  the  top  of  the  bank  large,  tall  pines,  with  tops 
crowned  with  green  tasseled  leaves,  huge  live  oaks  and  water 
oaks,  some  with  great  clustered  stems,  one  with  a  spread  of  over 
ninety  feet,  and  all  drooped  and  festooned  with  gray  moss, 
adorned  and  shaded  the  private  carriage  way  that  runs  between 
beautiful  villas  and  the  top  of  the  river's  bank.  Occasionally  we 
rested  on  the  seats  which  thoughtful  hands  had  placed  between 
the  trunks  of  the  noble  trees,  and  more  deliberately  studied  our 
novel  and  fascinating  surroundings.  Near  the  dwellings  which 
we  passed  were  groves  of  orange  trees,  with  their  waxen,  polished 
leaves  and  opening  and  exquisitely  sweet  flowers,  from  one  of 
which  alone  2,500  oranges  had  been  recently  taken.  We  saw 
no  alligators,  but  we  learned  that  they  were  only  just  awakening 
from  their  usual  three  months  winter's  sleep.  Like  other  rep- 
tiles during  this  long  season  of  torpor  they  take  no  food — thus, 
with  them,  does  sleep  anticipate  and  closely  resemble  death, 

29 


338  ISLES  OF  SUMMER. 

Beneath  a  friendly  and  liospitable  roof  vro  slaked  our  tliirst  with 
cool  and  delicious  orangeade — a  drink  differing  from  lemonade 
in  that  it  is  made  of  the  juice  of  the  sour  orange  instead  of  the 
lemon.  We  were  regaled  at  lunch  with  oranges  such  as  only 
Florida  can  produce,  and  with  strawberries  of  large  size  and  de- 
licious flavor,  taken  from  vines  which  were  said  to  yield  fruit 
continuously  from  January  to  June.  From  an  orange  orchard 
near  by  we  were  informed  that  70,000  oranges  had  been  taken 
within  a  few  weeks.  Before  the  crop  was  gathered,  the  trees, 
loaded  with  golden  fruit,  v/ere  said  to  have  been  marvelously 
beautiful.  After  a  few  hours  of  very  great  enjoyment,  we 
steamed  back  to  the  city,  where  during  the  evening,  in  the  saloon 
of  the  Texas,  we  were  honored  by  a  call  from  Gov.  Brown,  of 
Georgia,  an  old  friend  and  Yale  Law  School  classmate,  some 
members  of  his  family,  and  his  brother.  Col.  Brown.  The  Gov- 
ernor, not  only  by  his  eminent  success  in  political  life,  but  more 
especially  by  the  judicial  laurels  he  has  won  and  worn  (having 
filled  with  distinguished  ability  the  office  of  Chief  Justice  of  the 
State  of  Georgia),  has  reflected  honor  upon  the  institution  in 
which  in  part  he  received  his  education  for  the  bar.*  Col.  Brown 
also  studied  law  at  Yale,  and  both  gentlemen  will  be  pleasantly 
remembered  by  all  those  who  then  enjoyed  their  acquaintance 
and  friendship.  Having  introduced  the  Governor  to  our  honor- 
ed and  venerable  ex-Chief  Justice  Seymour,  to  whom  by  reputa- 
tion he  was  well  known,  it  was  pleasant  to  witness  the  play  and 
mingling  of  the  intellectual  light  of  these  two  justly  distin- 
guished men.  As  a  young  man,  the  author  saw  in  Gov.  Brown 
the  promise  which  has  been  fulfilled  in  the  golden  maturity  of 
later  years. 

After  another  night  spent  at  the  wharf  on  shijo  board,  we  con- 

*Thc  author  hasli-atnccl  withplcafuru  pinco  t'.iis  v.-a?  written,  that  Gov.  Crown  has  been 
appoiutcd  by  the  present  Governor  of  Goor;;ia,  to  liil  a  vacajcy,  a  United  States  Senator. 


THE  FLOEIDA  GULF.  339 

tinned  our  voyage  in  the  early  morning  following,  down  and  out 
of  the  river  into  the  broad  Atlantic. 

The  deep  solitude  of  the  sky-bound  sea  was  relieved  by  occa- 
sional white-winged  but  lonely  wanderers,  bearing  the  varied 
products  of  distant  and  invisible  lands.  Dark,  graceful  smoke 
plumes,  at  first  but  dimly  seen,  revealed  the  presence  of  approach- 
ing steamers,  and  furnished  welcome  food  for  speculation.  A 
German  barque,  looking  as  if  it  had  wrestled^with  the  elements, 
raised  its  flag  to  indicate  that  it  desired  to  communicate  with  us. 
Having  sighted  the  land  after  a  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  of 
more  than  three  thousand  miles,  its  captain  wished  to  ascertain 
as  accurately  as  possible,  his  whereabouts,  and  to  test  the  cor- 
rectness of  his  reckoning.  Upon  a  large  blackboard,  each  ves- 
sel marked  and  exhibited  to  the  other,  first  the  latitude  and  then 
the  longitude  of  the  place  where  they  met,  as  indicated  by  their 
respective  logs  or  records,  from  which  it  appeared  that  the  barque 
was  fifty  miles  removed  from  the  position  its  officers  supposed  it 
occupied. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Jupiter  lighthouse,  well  down  on  the 
Plorida  coast,  we  met  a  schooner,  one  of  whose  officers  inquired 
of  us  if  we  were  going  to  Key  West.  It  had  no  name  in  sight 
and  was  in  ballast.  As  it  sailed,  after  parting  company  with 
us,  first  towards  the  east,  and  soon,  without  any  apparent  good 
reason,  changed  its  course  to  the  south,  our  experienced  passen- 
ger captain,  having  watched  her  closely,  quickly  made  up  his 
mind  as  to  her  character  and  business.  He  explamed  how  easily 
but  fraudulently  a  few  thousand  dollars  could  be  made.  "De- 
pend upon  it,"  said  the  captain,  '•  she's  a  bank  shark.  She  hails 
from  Key  West,  no  doubt,  and  very  likely  has  a  Key  West  license. 
She  may  have  English  papers,  or  both  English  and  American 
papers.  Nassaii  wreckers  can't  come  here — our  wreckers  would 
drive  them  off.     So  at  the  Bahamas  they  will  not  allow  our  wreck- 


340  ISLES  OF  SUMMEE. 

ers  to  interfere  with  their  trade.  They  pay  sometimes  to  pilot  a 
vessel,  and  pilot  her  ashore — then  they  come  in  for  salvage. 
**  See,"  said  he  *'  she  has  no  cargo  aboard,  and  her  boat  is  on  her 
davits  ready  to  be  launched.  You  can't  keep  any  account  of 
goods  taken  from  a  wreck,  and,  running  into  Jupiter  inlet,  it  is 
an  easy  matter  to  secure  the  plunder.  Depend  on't,  them  fellows 
are  wide  awake  and  watching  for  business.  Their  vessel  shows 
no  name  and  can't  be  reported." 

An  old  resident  of  Nassau  informed  us  that  formerly  there 
were  persons  doing  business  in  that  city,  who  were  well  known 
to  be  in  collusion  with  certain  ship  owners  who  desired  to  sell 
their  vessel  property  and  cargoes  to  the  insurance  companies. 
When  one  of  these  men  visited  Xew  York,  very  soon  afterwards 
New  York  vessels  would  be  wrecked  in  the  Bahama  waters.  The 
masters  of  vessels  purposely  wrecked  their  vessels,  an  arrange- 
ment having  been  previously  made  with  the  wreckers,  and  a  cer- 
tain division  of  the  salvage  money  agreed  upon.  It  is  believed 
and  hoped  that  such  cases  do  not  often  now  occur. 

Having  no  communication  with  the  silent  man  at  the  wheel 
who  held  in  his  hands  our  lives  upon,  the  sea,  we  seldom  knew 
precisely  where  we  were,  while  we  ''floated  like  bubbles  onward.'* 
Our  steamer's  prow  still  persistently  pointed  to  the  south,  and 
we  skirted  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Peninsula  of  Florida,  in  what 
is  called  "the  Florida  Gulf."  Along  sand  beach  gave  to  the 
blue  sea  a  fringe  of  snowy  whiteness.  Beyond  this,  and  between 
it  and  the  sky.  Southern  Florida  was  sand  witched.  A  low,  nar- 
row, monotonous  belt  of  green  was  all  that  we  could  see  of  the 
wet,  wooded  and  flowery  land,  with  its  luscious  fruits^  beautiful 
birds  and  loathsome  reptiles.  As  we  approached  the  latitude 
of  St.  Augustine,  our  course  was  so  far  to  the  east  that  "the 
shining  shore  "  was  with  more  difficulty  discerned.  We  almost 
envied  the  few  long-sighted  passengers  who  seemed  to  see  and 


tSE   FLORIDA   GULF.  S4l 

professed  to  describe  the  landmarks  which  our  less  gifted  eyea 
failed  to  discern;  and  we  thought  of  the  holy  seers  who  peer 
into  the  invisible  world,  and  cliallenge  our  doubting  faith  with 
stories  of  spirit  realms.  A  delicate  blush,  like  that  which  lin- 
gers where  the  sun  has  set,  curtained  with  rosy  light  the  vanished 
land.  Floating  i]i  and  above  this  radiant  air,  as  far  as  we  could 
see  along  the  western  hem  of  the  bending  sky,  Avere  soft  pearly 
clouds,  most  beautifully  configured  and  colored,  in  Avhicli  seemed 
to  flit  the  happy  and  viewless  spirits  of  the  air.  Around  us  the 
sea  rolled  in  gentle  ripples.  Low,  soothing  sounds  came  to  us 
as  our  beautiful  ship  cleaved  the  slumbering  waters.  The  wind 
god  breathed  softly  upon  us  from  the  south.  So  profound  was 
the  calm  repose,  all  the  mighty  forces  of  nature,  that  at  times  in 
these  latitudes  make  themselves  felt  and  feared  in  the  hurricane, 
seemed  to  have  been  chloroformed  to  insure  for  us  a  safe  and 
pleasant  voyage.  None  of  our  passengers  were  sick.  A  musing,, 
dreamy  spirit  rested  upon  all.  Most  of  the  passengers  were  dur- 
ing the  day  upon  the  main  deck,  sitting  upon  folding-chairs  un- 
der the  awnings.  Many  mused  in  silence.  Those  who  conversed 
spoke  in  low  tones.  Not  the  slightest  excitement  was  manifested. 
The  repose  Avas  profound;  the  rest  was  perfect.  The  pulses 
throbbed  gently,  and  tlie  gentlest  ripples  masked  the  tides  of 
varied  thought.  In  indolent  repose,  lulled  by  the  softest  sounds, 
slightly  rocked  by  the  gentle  undulations  of  the  slumbering  sea, 
Ave  passed  the  happy  hours.  The  thermometer  registered  80°  in 
the  shade,  but  the  heat  Avas  far  from  being  oppressive.  The  au- 
thor took  out  his  stylographic  pen,  placed  it  upon  the  Avhite 
paper,  and  Avatched  it  while  it  ran. 

The  porpoises,  whose  gambols  had  given  a  pleasing  variety  to 
our  quiet  enjoyments,  no  longer  raced  with  our  steamer  or  leaped 
t)ut  of  the  water  to  challenge  our  admiration,  and  extort  invol- 
untary and  loud  applause.     But  near  the  close  of  day  they  came 


34-3  SsLfeS  0]>  ferMMEii. 

to  the  surface,  leaving  the  deeper  and  cooler  waters  as  the  sun 
approached  his  setting,  and  like  a  dog  before  a  %ing  horse,  they 
raced  with  our  ship.  Directly  ahead  of  and  close  to  its  sharp 
iron  prow,  with  unmistakable  evidences  of  pride  and  joy,  they 
led  the  way,  and  seemed  to  challenge  us  to  overtake  them  if  we 
could.  It  was  exceedingly  interesting  and  somewhat  exciting 
to  observe  them  at  such  times.  They  frequently  leaped  bodily 
out  of  the  water,  and  seemed  to  indulge  in  a  competitive  race 
with  each  other  while  testing  their  locomotive  powers  with  those 
of  the  strange,  man-made  monster  that  had  invaded  their  watery 
realm.  The  sport  was  continued  for  many  a  mile,  but  like  the 
great  golden  god  of  day,  they  retired  to  depths  we  could  not  see, 
and  to  realms  Ave  had  no  capacity  fully  to  explore. 

We  were  told  by  an  eye  witness  in  Florida,  of  sanguinary  fights 
between  the  porpoises  and  the  sharks.  Our  lady  informant  on 
one  occasion  saw  three  or  four  of  the  former  mercilessly  attack 
one  of  the  latter  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John's,  and  the  contest 
was  continued  until  the  surrounding  water  was  colored  with  their 
blood. 

In  the  Florida  Gulf  we  soon  parted  company  with  the  sea-birds. 
Not  a  single  gull  looked  to  us  for  supplies.  The  river  St.  John's 
probably  teems  with  a  larger  quantity  of  food  suited  to  their 
taste  and  adapted  to  their  wants. 

We  missed  them  much.  The  ocean  was  more  lonely.  It  had 
been  exceedingly  pleasant  to  watch  them  while  they  followed  our 
ship,  and  as  some  of  the  more  venturesome  hovered  over  us,  the 
undulations  of  their  white  wide-spread  wings  seemed  like  silent 
benedictions.  The  persistent  waving  of  the  unspotted  feathery 
arms  we  gladly  welcomed  as  favorable  omens.  W^e  were  not  dis- 
posed to  disregard  the  favorable  augury  of  the  beautiful  birds 
who  so  persistently  followed  us  over  such  wide  spaces  of  ocean 
solitudes.     Certain  it  is  that  clear  skies,  smooth  seas  and  fair 


THE   GULP  STREAM.  343 

winds  came  with  the  gentle  white-robed  birds.  As  a  natural 
consequence,  mind  and  heart  were  jDervaded  with  the  dead  faith 
of  old  and  buried  nations.  Messages  of  love  and  peace  seemed 
winged  from  heaven  to  earth.  Give  us,  we  inwardly  exclaimed, 
the  old  dream  of  the  past,  in  exchange  for  some  of  the  fresher 
and  more  orthodox  superstitions  of  modern  times.  It  certainly 
affords  a  temporary  pleasure  to  diversify  hackneyed  beliefs  with 
a  little  of  the  antique. 

We  passed  within  ten  or  twelve  miles  of  Jupiter  Inlet  and 
Jupiter  Lighthouse,  both  being  plainly  in  view.  Soon  after,  the 
course  of  our  ship  was  altered,  and,  steaming  a  little  south  of  east, 
all  traces  of  the  Western  Continent  were  lost  to  view,  but  low, 
light-colored  clouds  still  curtained  the  vanished  land. 

Nearly  all  our  passengers  were  upon  the  upper  deck,  musing 
in  grateful  shadows,  and,  with  the  thermometer  at  80°,  feeling 
only  an  agreeable  warmth  in  the  cooling  wind.  A  marked  change 
was  soon  observed  in  the  color  of  the  water.  Its  deep,  rich, 
beautiful  blue  was  unlike  anything  we  had  observed  before  or 
since  we  left  New  York.  It  attracted  and  riveted  all  eyes,  and 
loosened  every  tongue.  Gentlemen  vied  with  the  ladies  in  exr 
pressing  the  pleasure  caused  by  this  new  sensation.  One  passen- 
ger, of  a  domestic  turn  of  mind,  inferred  that  it  was  Neptune's 
washing  day,  and  that  he  had  made  a  liberal  use  of  his  indigo 
bag.  The  mystery  was  soon  explained.  We  were  crossing  the 
Gulf  Stream;  unconsciously  we  had  entered  the  great  ocean  river. 
It  had  gathered  up  tlic  equatorial  heats,  and,  impelled  by  great 
natural  laws  which  man  has  not  been  able  as  yet  to  fully  discover 
and  satisfactorily  explain,  it  was  executing  its  great  beneficent 
mission,  and  materially  aiding  in  equalizing  the  temperature  of 
regions  widely  separated.  How  unlike  it  seemed  to  the  Gulf 
Stream  we  crossed  a  year  before!  Then  we  brought  with  us  from 
the  frozen  north  opposing  winds — and  a  just  resentment  was  felt 


344  ISLES   OP    SUMMER. 

and  seen  in  billows  that  hissed  and  howled,  foaming  in  anger. 
Now,  gentle  winds,  born  in  the  warm  tropics,  traveled  with  the 
rolling  tide,  and  hand  in  hand,  air  and  water  were  bearing  their 
thermal  blessings  onward.  It  is  theirs  to  loosen  the  icy  bands, 
and  quicken  into  life  the  slumbering  energies  of  northern  climes. 

At  times  dolphins  played  about  our  ship,  and  flying  fish,  like 
flocks  of  small  birds,  traversed  considerable  spaces  of  air,  just 
clearing  the  waves.  ''  The  dolphin,"  said  our  passenger  captain, 
**  is  the  swiftest  fish  that  swims  the  sea;  where  there  are  flying 
fish  there  are  usually  dolphins;  the  dolphins  feed  upon  them, 
and  the  flying  fish  jump  into  the  air  and  try  to  get  away. "  Vague 
memories  of  ancient  fables  came  dimly  back  to  us  as  we  watched 
the  quick  and  playful  movements  of  this  interesting  mammal  of 
the  sea.  The  dolphin  was  a  sacred  fish  in  Grecian  mythology, 
and  gave  name  if  not  inspiration  to  the  famous  Delphic  Oracle 
that  made  known  to  mortals  the  decrees  of  the  invisible  and  im- 
mortal gods.  Modern  scientists,  upon  observing  the  relative  size 
and  character  of  its  brain,  are  disposed  to  entertain  with  more 
favor  the  belief  of  the  ancients  in  its  superior  intelligence.  As 
with  the  sea-birds,  so  with  the  fish,  they  stirred  our  souls  with 
the  quickening  spirit  of  creeds  that  flourished  in  earth's  fresh 
green  spring  time,  and  our  voiceless  thoughts' declared — surely, 
these  dolphins,  which  appear  to  be  doing  pilot  and  escort  duty 
for  our  ship,  are  the  lineal  descendents  of  those  which,  in  tho 
old  days  of  the  old  world,  were  the  friends  and  benefactors  of  our 
race,  almoners  of  divine  favors  and  the  bearers  of  messages  from 
a  world  real  but  invisible;  for  Avith  them  came  most  delicious 
air,  charming  skies,  and  a  quiet  sea  most  beautifully  colored. 

Some  of  our  sun-sets  were  exceptionally  brilliant  and  beautiful. 
On  one  occasion,  when  a  vast  shoreless  sea  had  received  the  day- 
god  in  its  engulfing  waters,  great  golden  columns  of  brilliant 
light,  radiating  from  the  place  of  its  burial,  lighted  up  the  west- 


KIGHT  OX  THE   OCEAIT.  345, 

ern  sky,  and  illumined  the  ocean's  surface  with  their  reflected 
light.  At  other  times  the  zodiacal  light,  for  several  hours  after, 
the  sun  had  set,  rose  like  a  monument,  a  huge  pyramid  of  beauty,, 
delicate,  spirituelle,  but  well  defined,  upon  the  lofty  apex  of 
which  rested  the  Pleiades.  It  was  first  observed  by  our  venerable 
ex-Chief  Justice,  who  seemed  delighted  to  watch  it  during  the 
early  evening  hours;  he  appeared  to  be  very  much  at  home  among 
the  beautiful  stars  of  the  southern  sky,  and  to  derive  great  pleas-. 
ure  in  viewing  the  heavenly  hosts,  as,  arranged  in  familiar  con- 
stellations, they  in  solemn,  silent  majesty  passed  slowly  by.  The 
beauty  of  such  skies  is  closely  allied  to  the  spiritual;  their  grand- 
eur and  solemnity  is  indeed  divine;  the  undevout  gazer  upon 
such  heavens  is  mad.  But  how  dwarfed  everything  appeared 
when  we  looked  down! 

While  still  at  sea,  a  beautiful  silver  crescent,  like  the  visible  eye 
of  some  invisible  god,  gazed  from  the  western  sky  upon  the 
setting  sun.  It  added  a  new  element  of  beauty  to  the  night,  but, 
as  it  increased  in  size,  many  a  star  retired,  and  the  mysterious 
zodiacal  light  was  unrevealed.  It,  like  the  ghosts,  exists  only 
in  shadows. 

On  Saturday  evening,  the  13th  day  of  March,  we  made''  Isaac's 
Light"  upon  Isaac's  Island,  one  of  the  Bahama  Archipelago, 
and  knew  that  the  crossing  of  the  gulf  of  Florida  was,  with 
ns,  an  accomplished  fact,  and  that  a  run  during  the  night  of 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  in  the  somewhat  sheltered 
"  New  Providence  Channel,"  among  the  islands,  and  towards  the 
center  of  the  group,  would  complete  our  voyage.  \Vc  left  the 
upper  deck,  with  its  brilliant  canopy  of  gleaming  stars,  and  re- 
tired early  to  our  stateroom,  that  we  might  secure  a  good  night's 
sleep  and  be  able,  at  the  break  of  day,  to  greet  the  rising  sun 
and  watch  for  the  first  indications  of  the  lovely  isle  upon  which 
Nassau,  in  the  shade  of  its  palms  and  other  tropical  trees,  re- 
poses. 


346  ISLES  OF  StJMMEE. 

The  early  Sabbath  morn  found  a  large  number  of  onr  fellow 
voyagers  intently  scanning  the  eastern  horizon  from  the  good 
ship's  upper  deck.  The  usual  speculations,  inseparable  from 
such  an  occasion,  as  to  the  time  when  we  would  reach  our  haren 
of  rest,  afforded  fit  material  for  the  interchange  of  thought  and 
a  comparison  of  views.  It  was  a  subject  in  which  all  were  deeply 
interested,  but  the  weather  had  been  so  fine,  and  the  voyage  so 
pleasant,  that  we  felt  that  in  landing  we  should  only  exchange 
one  form  of  happiness  for  another.  Our  ship  was  new,  scrupu- 
lously neat  and  clean,  staunch  and  steady,  admirably  officered 
and  manned,  and  all  its  appointments  were  decidedly  first-class, 
so  that  a  sentiment  akin  to  that  which  one  entertains  for  a  beau- 
tiful, spirited  and  intelligent  horse,  that  has  carried  him  safely 
and  ministered  to  his  happiness,  sprang  up  and  took  firm  root 
in  the  minds  of  the  fortunate  passengers  in  reference  to  the 
Steam  Screw  Ship  Western  Texas.  The  Texas  we  felt  was  our 
ship,  and  to  it  we  seemed  to  owe  a  kind  of  fealty  and  true  alle- 
giance. 

As  the  morning  wore  away,  our  passenger  captain,  with  his 
trained,  long-sighted  sea-eyes,  detected  a  faint  trace  of  curling 
smoke  upon  the  background  of  delicate  low  clouds  rising  from 
the  eastern  horizon.  This,  he  assured  us,  was  smoke  from  a  fire 
on  the  island  of  New  Providence.  Soon  after,  his  telescopic  eyes 
discerned  in  a  white,  perpendicular  line,  about  as  big  around  as 
a  spider's  thread,  the  coralline  lighthouse  at  the  eastern  end  of 
Hog  Island,  at  the  entrance  of  Nassau  harbor.  Very  soon  the 
less  visually  gifted  were  able  to  verify  assertions  which,  to  their 
more  narrow  -vision,  seemed  to  be  prophetic — and  their  faith  was 
soon  supplemented  by  actual  knowledge.  Thus  is  it  often  with 
hidden  truths  and  mysteries  profound! 

Between  9  and  10  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  we  crossed  the  bar, 
and  once  more  revelled  in  the  picturesque  beauty  of  the  winding 


AKRIVAL  AT  N-ASSAtf.  54'!' 

shores,  the  honey-combed  rocks,  the  stretches  of  white  sand 
beaches,  the  low  green  islets,  the  tropical  verdure,  and  the  spark- 
ling and  gleaming  waters,  dotted  and  striped  •^vith  colors  wliich 
no  pen  can  adeqnatel}''  describe.  We  seemed  to  feel  their  welcome 
in  the  soft  and  soothing  wind.  For  men  and  their  works  we 
cared  little — they  were  so  dwarfed  by  those  which  we  had  left 
behind  us.  But  for  the  coral  isles  and  keys,  and  for  the  elements 
above  and  around  them — the  handiwork  of  the  world's  great 
Architect — we  entertained  a  genuine  affection,  and  our  hearts  ex- 
perienced a  thrill  of  pleasure  as  we  gazed  upon  the  beautiful 
panorama  which  Avas  gradually  disclosed  as  we  neared  the  place 
of  our  landing. 

It  being  Sunday,  a  much  smaller  crowd  than  usual  awaited  our 
arrival  ujjon  the  neighboring  streets  and  adjacent  wharfs.  A  few 
young  negroes,  black  and  glossy,  nearly  nude,  were  perched  like 
great  frogs  upon  the  dock,  and  soon  amused  the  new-comers  by 
diving  for  pennies  and  other  coin.  The  first  on  shore  to  recog- 
nize us,  as  we  scanned  the  duskj  upturned  faces,  were  those  little 
black  dots  of  children — Moody  and  Sankey.  They  bowed  and 
smiled  and  waved  their  hands,  while  eyes  and  teeth  gleamed  with 
unmistakable  pleasure  at  seeing  once  more  those  who  had  listened 
to  and  taken  an  interest  in  their  songs.  The  tall,  manly  form 
of  our  old  yachtsman,  Capt.  Sampson,  with  his  neat  nautical  blue 
uniform  and  "  Triton  "  hat,  was  a  very  noticeable  landmark,  and, 
when  he  discovered  us,  he  triumphantly  exclaimed,  as  one  of  his 
hearers  informed  us — "  Dere's  a  gentleman  who's  consigned  to 
me;  he  knows  de  Trident;  he  ken  tell  you  about  her;  he  sailed 
with  Sampson  when  der  Trident  was  first  built;  he's  consigned  to 
Sampson — sure!"  He  was  not  long  in  finding  us,  and,  with  a 
hearty  shake  of  the  hands,  interlarded  his  speech  of  welcome  with 
those  graceful,  courtly  airs  and  diplomatic  plirases  which,  un- 
studied, he  knows  so  well  how  to  employ.     Seizing  our  bundle^ 


348  ISLES  OP  SUMMEE. 

he  escorted  us  to  the  best  and  largest  carriage  at  the  landing, 
and  loaded  us  up.  Soon  a  man  appeared  who  claimed  ours  was 
his  carriage,  and  that  from  the  bows  of  the  steamer  he  had  en- 
gaged it  before  any  one  had  a  chance  to  put  a  foot  on  the  dock, 
and  had  put  his  bundles  in  it  Avhile  he  went  for  the  other  mem- 
bers of  his  party.  "Can't  help  dat,"  said  Sampson;  "dis  car- 
riage belongs  to  dis  gentleman — why,  he  spoke  for  dis  carriage 
las'  year!  Driver,  3'ou  take  dis  gentleman  and  dese  yere  ladies 
to  der  hotel," — and  he  did  so  before  wc  had  fully  time  to  con- 
sider and  decide  the  doubtful  question  of  our  right  to  keep  pos- 
session of  the  vehicle. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Pleasant  Return  Voyages.  Waiting  in  Florida  the  Arrival  of  Summer  at 
the  North.  Making  Apologies  to  a  Tropical  Sun.  T/ie  Steamer  City  of  Aus- 
tin— Capt.  Stevens.  A  Leaf  from  the  Chapter  of  the  Captain's  Nautical 
Expei'iences.  Little  Sankey  Tra/nsported  and  Transplanted.  Reciprocal 
Welcomes. 

"Where'er  I  roam,  whatever  lands  I  see, 
My  heart,  untraveled,  fondly  turns  to  thee." — Goldsmith. 

Having  embodied  in  the  preceding  chapters  all  the  informa- 
tion we  obtained  concerning  Nassau  and  the  Bahamas  during  our 
visits  in  1879  and  1880,  which  we  deemed  would  be  useful  or  in- 
teresting to  our  readers,  but  little  remains  to  be  added  before 
we  lay  down  a  pen  which  we  have  found  it  a  difficult  matter  to 
stop. 

After  returning  to  Jacksonville  in  April,  1879,  we  spent  sev- 
eral weeks  in  Florida  enjoying  its  climate,  and  waiting  for  the 
time  to  come  when  summer  at  the  north  should  be  firmly  estab- 
Hshed«  We  soon  learned  to  love  the  dreamy  lakes  and  languid 
rivers;  the  deep  solitude  of  the  pine  forests;  the  wild,  weird 
beauty  of  the  cypress  swamps;  the  gracefulness  of  the  palms  and 
palmettos;  the  grand  old  water-oaks  and  live-oaks,  all  profusely 
draped,  festooned  and  decorated,  from  largest  branch  to  smallest 
twig,  with  Spanish  moss,  so  gray  and  sombre;  the  stately  mag- 
nolias, royally  adorned  with  dark  waxen  leaves,  and  large,  white, 
floral  incense  cups;  the  orange  orchards,  whose  leaves,  and  flowers, 
and  fruit  seemed  intended  to  minister  to  the  happinesa  rather  of 
849  30 


350  iSLES  6^  StTMMEa. 

gods  than  men;  the  floral  treasures  everywhere  scattered  with 
lavish  hand;  and  the  birds,  unsurpassed  in  plumage  and  un- 
equaled  in  song.  We  lingered  for  a  while,  reluctant  to  leave, 
after  many  of  the  larger  hotels  were  closed.  At  last  our  time  to 
depart  came,  and  we  made  a  part  of  the  extreme  rear  of  a  great, 
but  generally  intelligent  and  cultivated  army,  which,  having  in 
the  previous  fall  and  winter  fled  from  frost,  was  now  being  driven 
and  scattered  by  a  nearly  tropical  sun. 

Dimpled  all  over  with  smiles,  and  reposing  in  calm  and  quiet 
majesty  under  an  atmosphere  that  glowed  with  the  genial  warmth 
of  May,  the  ocean,  like  a  good  foster  mother,  rocl^ed  us  gently 
upon  its  bosom,  tenderly  floated  us  hundreds  of  miles  homeward, 
and  at  last  landed  us  safely  upon  old  familiar  shores,  that  had, 
in  our  absence,  exchanged  their  robes  and  wrappings  of  ice  and 
snow  for  beautiful  carpets  of  verdure  of  the  purest  and  brightest 
emerald. 

Our  second  visit  to  the  Isles  of  Summer  was  less  pleasant  than 
the  first  by  reason  of  the  heat,  for  the  same  causes  which  pro- 
duced the  remarkably  mild  winter  of  1879-80  at  the  north,  gave 
to  Florida  and  the  Bahamas  weather  exceptionally  warm.  As 
we  had  anticipated  when  we  turned  our  backs  upon  the  northern 
March  in  the  manner  which  we  in  our  last  chapter  described,  we 
escaped  a  great  deal  of  exceedingly  disagreeable  weather,  for 
winter  and  summer,  as  in  other  years,  struggled  for  the  mastery 
upon  the  neutral  domain  of  spring,  while  fortune  favored  both 
sides  with  characteristic  fickleness.  But  when  in  Florida  and 
Na,ssau,  both  upon  land  and  water,  the  thermometer  during  the 
greater  part  of  every  day  stood  at  eighty  and  upwards  in  the 
shade,  and  hot,  sultry,  southerly  winds  were  more  than  usually 
prevalent,  we  were  at  times  led  to  exclaim,  0,  for  a  cool  puff  of 
northern  wind,  and  carpets  of  beautiful  snow;  and  mountains 
lofty  and  snow-capped  I  0,  for  an  exchange  of  lazy  and  indolent 


FROM  NASSAU  TO   FERN-AKDINA.  351 

air  for  an  atmosphere  that  vitalizes  the  blood,  stimulates  the 
nerves,  gives  birth  to  noble  purposes,  and  inspires  with  a  laudable 
ambition! 

Afterwards,  when  the  weekly  mail  arrived,  with  letters  and  news- 
papers from  home,  and  we  learned  how  badly  both  March  and 
April  had  conducted  themselves  at  the  north  in  our  absence,  we 
immediately  rushed  out  from  beneath  the  grateful  shade  of  tropi- 
cal trees,  and,  with  heads  bowed  but  well  protected,  we  made 
to  the  hot  sun,  and  to  the  beautiful  lands  that  panted  in  its  fierce 
and  scorching  rays,  our  most  humble  and  sincere  apologies. 

At  the  conclusion  of  our  second  visit  to  the  Bahamas,  we 
had  a  most  delightful  voyage  in  the  Western  Texas,  of  the  C.  H. 
Mallory  &  Co.'s  line,  from  Kassau  to  Fernandina.  We  wore 
favored  with  clear  skies,  while  beneath  and  around  us  the  At- 
lantic was  at  rest.  All  the  storm  gods  of  the  sea  were  indulg- 
ing in  deep,  profound,  voluptuous  sleep.  Our  ship  rivaled  the 
ducks  upon  sheltered  lakes  in  the  quiet  grace  with  which  it 
passed  over  the  smooth  waters.  We  spent  much  of  the  time 
during  the  day  dreamily  watching  the  sky,  the  birds,  the  mur- 
muring waves,  the  fish,  the  sea  weed,  and  passing  vessels.  The 
glory  of  the  stars  and  of  the  Soutliern  Cross  added  brilliancy 
and  gladness  to  the  night. 

•'New  stars  all  night  above  the  brim 
Of  waters  lightened  into  view; 
They  climb'd  as  quiekly,  for  the  rim 
Changed  every  moment  as  we  flew. " 

There  are  often  among  the  passengers  on  shipboard  "late 
birds,"  sometimes,  upon  the  land,  called  "larks,"  who  linger 
behind  after  the  staid,  prudent,  and  conservative  have  retired, 
and,  with  songs  and  stories,  and  fragrant  Ilavanas,  endeavor  to 
get  more  than  the  average  amount  of  enjoyment  out  of  hours 
generally  devoted  to  slcej:).     But  the  passengers  who  sailed  with 


852  ISLES   OF   SUMMER. 

US  to  and  from  the  Isles  of  Summer  were  so  far  homogeneous, 
that  none  had  occasion  to  complain  that  the  hilarity  and  good 
fellowship  of  a  few  were  carried  so  far  into  the  night  as  to  en- 
croach upon  hours  generally  devoted  to  sleep. 

Sailing  in  the  path  of  an  ocean  current  which  furnished  our 
ship  with  a  part  of  its  motive  power,  and  aided  by  a  wind  that, 
while  it  warmed,  wafted  us  on  our  way,  wc  Avero  not  long  in 
reaching  the  Florida  coast.  The  trip  was  also  materially  short- 
ened because  health  and  happiness  winged  the  flying  hours. 

About  four  weeks  after  our  last  arrival  in  Florida,  we  proceeded 
by  rail  from  Jacksonville  to  Fernandina,  and  intercepted  the 
steamship  City  of  Austin,  Capt.  Stevens,  of  the  C.  11.  Mallory 
&  Co.'s  New  York  and  Nassau  line,  which,  on  its  way  to  New 
York,  had  stopped  there  for  passengers  and  freight.  Wc  found 
it  a  good  ship,  well  officered,  manned  and  equipped,  though  the 
closing  of  the  Eoyal  Victoria  Hotel  caused  it  to  be  crowded  with 
passengers,  but  as  during  the  voyage  the  weather  was  pleasant, 
little  inconvenience  was  experienced  from  that  cause,  the  cases  of 
sea  sickness  being  very  few  in  number  and  mild  in  type.  The  pas- 
sengers spent  the  days  upon  deck,  and  many  of  the  evenings  also, 
notwithstanding  the  heavy  dews.  The  profound  mystery  which 
seems  ever  to  brood  over  the  ocean  and  penetrate  its  profound 
depths,  is  greatly  intensified  at  night.  We  were  much  impressed 
with  it  as  our  gallant  ship  tore  and  leaped  into  the  dark,  leaving 
behind  a  brilliant  but  troubled  path  of  foam  and  fire.  Around 
it  the  phosphorescent  light  gleamed  in  the  waves  and  sparkled 
in  the  spray.  A  halo  of  white  and  luminous  foam  girdled  the 
ship,  which,  with  its  long  and  brilliant  train,  made  it  seem, 
prehaps,  to  the  marine  monsters  miles  below  under  its  keel,  like 
a  strange  comet  of  the  sea. 

While  sitting  in  the  evening  upon  one  of  the  camp  stools  with 
which  the  deck  of  the  Austin  Avas  supplied.  Captain  Stevens  oc- 


THE  CAPTAIN-'S  STORY.  353 

easionally  favored  us  witli  his  presence,  and  we  succeeded  in  ob- 
taining from  him  some  interesting  stories  of  the  sea,  founded  upon 
his  personal  experience.  He  is  a  medium  sized,  strongly  built, 
calm,  cool-headed,  self-possessed  man,  on  whose  judgment  and 
discretion  we  think  one  may  safely  rely  in  time  of  danger.  His 
hair  is  perfectly  white,  but  not  with  age,  as  he  is  only  some  forty- 
two  or  forty-three  years  okl.  Having  spent  most  of  his  life 
upon  the  water,  and  been  a  number  of  times  shipwrecked,  the 
hardships  he  has  endured  have  left  their  record  upon  his  hair. 

One  evening  while  the  captain  was  making  a  tour  of  inspection 
of  the  ship,  he  stopped  for  awhile  and  occupied  a  seat  on  deck 
beside  us.  We  were  between  Capes  Lookout  and  Hatteras,  and 
sailing  over  what  the  sailors  call,  on  account  of  the  foul  weather 
often  experienced  there,  ''the  ragged  edge  of  the  ocean."  The 
perils  incident  to  and  inseijarable  from  the  navigation  of  the 
ocean  by  steam  having  been  referred  to,  Captain  Stevens,  in 
illustration  of  the  subject,  said:  "  Disasters  occur  upon  the  water 
sometimes  from  unexpected  and  inexplicable  causes.  A  few 
years  ago  I  commanded  a  steamer  which  foundered  and  went 
to  the  bottom  when  the  weather  was  fair  and  the  sea  smooth. 
It  occurred  at  a  place  very  near  where  we  are  now.  She  had 
not  been,  so  far  as  I  knew  or  was  informed,  weakened  by 
storms,  or  damaged  by  any  of  those  accidents  to  which  steamers 
and  other  vessels  are  sometimes  exposed.  In  the  night,  some 
two  hours  or  more  before  daybreak,  the  engineer  sent  me  word 
that  the  ship  was  leaking,  and  the  water  steadily  gaining  upon 
the  pumps.  I  found  that  the  entire  loss  of  the  ship  was  only  a 
matter  of  a  few  hours  time.  I  gave  directions  to  have  a  report 
sent  to  me  every  fifteen  minutes  of  the  progress  of  the  water, 
and  commenced  at  once  making  arrangements  for  abandoning 
the  vessel.  The  second  officer  asked  if  he  should  not  awaken  the 
passengers.     I  replied,  no;   let  them  sleep  on — and  they  did. 


354  tSLES  OP  SUMMEE. 

They  no  doubt  would  have  had  less  pleasant  dreams  if  they  had 
known  or  suspected  that  tlie  ship  all  the  time  was  gradually  set- 
tling down  deeper  and  deeper  in  the  water.  I  sent  up  signal 
rockets  of  distress,  and  kej)t  the  crew  busy.  All  the  life  boats 
were  made  ready  for  immediate  use,  and  when  eycry  practicable 
measure  to  ensure  the  preservation  of  life  had  been  taken,  the 
passengers  were  awakened  and  informed  of  the  condition  of  the 
ship,  and  of  the  steps  I  had  taken  to  prevent  any  loss  of  life. 
Although  greatly  surprised,  and  somcAvhat  excited,  there  was  no 
panic,  and  all  behaved  well.  In  the  dim  morning  light,  a  steamer, 
that  had  noticed  our  signals,  was  seen  in  the  distance  approaching. . 
Her  captain,  upon  learning  our  condition,  agreed  to  receive  us 
on  board,  and  did  so.  The  transfer  Avas  quietly  and  safely  effect- 
ed. No  boat  was  swamped,  and  everything  passed  off  as  qnietly 
as  a  military  dress  parade.  After  the  personal  safety  of  all  the 
passengers  and  crew  was  assured,  I  proposed,  as  my  ship  was  still 
afloat,  to  make  an  effort  to  save  the  baggage.  This  I  succeeded 
in  doing;  but  I  had  no  sooner  returned  with  the  last  boat-load 
of  trunks,  when  the  abandoned  steamer  sank  out  of  sight." 

The  quiet,  modest  way  in  which  Captain  Stevens  described  this 
thrilling  episode  in  his  life  upon  the  ocean,  in  connection  with 
the  facts  of  the  case  as  he  had  described  tlicm,  very  favorably 
impressed  us.  Coolness  and  courage  in  time  of  peril  must  accom- 
pany and  supplement  sagacity,  prudence  and  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  one's  business,  in  order  to  qualify  a  man  to  properly  fill 
the  responsible  position  which  he  occupied. 

Little  Sankey  was  included  among  our  j^assengers.  He  was 
the  protege  of  the  captain,  who,  having  been  attracted  by  his 
shining  qualities,  concluded  to  transplant  the  little  tropical 
negro,  and  see  what  effect  cultivation  upon  American  soil  would 
produce.  Good  citizens  arc  sometimes  made  out  of  less  promising 
materials.     Having  become  acquainted  with  many  of  the  passen- 


WELCOME!?  PR6M  SHtP  TO  SHOEE.  355 

gers  in  the  court  of  the  Eoyal  Victoria  Hotel,  he  received,  par- 
ticularly from  the  ladies,  attentions  which  helped  to  palliate  the 
heart-aches  incident  to  a  sudden  sundering  of  all  the  tendrils  of 
affection  that  had  bound  him  to  the  small  coral  island  upon  which 
he  was  born  and  reared.  Words  of  kindness  were  mingled  Avith 
the  small  coin  given  him  from  time  to  time,  partly  as  a  reward 
for  such  services  as  he  was  able  to  render.  Sometimes  he  was 
seen  reclining  upon  packages  of  freight,  taciturn  and  sober, 
apparently  the  victim  of  two  maladies — sea-sickness  and  sickness 
of  the  heart.  He,  however,  manifested  as  much  fortitude  and 
cheerfulness  as  could  be  expected  under  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances in  which  he  was  placed. 

Although  dui'ing  our  absence  new  scenes  had  afforded  us  much 
enjoyment,  while  relaxation  from  business  and  a  change  of  air 
had  been  of  substantial  benefit  in  a  sanitary  point  of  view,  our 
hearts  throbbed  with  no  small  degree  of  pleasurable  excitement 
as  we  approached  the  city  of  New  York,  through  shores  which 
art  and  nature  have  done  so  much  to  adorn.  Long  Island  and 
the  Island  of  Manhattan,  as  seen  from  the  deck  of  the  Austin, 
belted  with  forests  of  masts,  enlivened  by  numberless  steamers, 
each  with  passengers  enough  to  make  a  good  sized  town,  and 
covered  with  the  immense  warehouses  and  palaces  of  merchant 
princes,  together  with  the  constantly  increasing  evidences  that 
we  were  in  close  proximity  to  vast,  swift,  and  ever  changing 
eddies  and  currents  of  human  life,  strangely  and  sharply  con- 
trasted Avith  all  that  we  had  seen  and  experienced  among  the  Isles 
of  Summer,  upon  the  peninsular  of  Florida,  and  in  ocean  soli- 
tudes. 

Our  return  to  the  north  was  well-timed.  The  morning  was 
lovely;  the  air  of  a  most  agreeable  temperature;  the  sky  cloud- 
less. Nature,  with  smiling  face,  welcomed  us  home.  The  little 
dimpled  waves  glistened  and  gleefully  danced  iu  the  sun-light. 


S56  ISLES  OP  SUMMEE. 

Brooklyn  from  her  heights,  Jersey  City  from  her  lowly  position 
upon  the  shore,  and  New  York  from  behind  her  shipping,  seemed 
to  waft  lis  jDlcasant  greetings.  Our  fellow  passengers  thronged 
the  deck  of  the  Anstin,  and  exchanged  cards  and  congratulations. 
We  again  found  that  the  love  of  native  laud  is  intensified  by  ab- 
sence. Exile  hallows  and  makes  home  more  sacred.  The  earth- 
ly home  suggested  the  heavenly,  and  we  repeated  the  poet's  ap- 
propriate and  tuneful  numbers — 

"Lone  voyager  on  time's  sea! 
When  my  dull  night  of  being  shall  be  past, 
O  may  I  waken  in  a  land  at  last, 

Welcome  as  this  to  me  I" 


>ss^\mj<>iasa^N 


